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What game are you wasting time on?
- Thread starter Trash
- Start date
Dayyālu
Arcane
Hedon: Bloodrite (2021): k, nowadays I don't have the time for gaming like in the good old days. I enjoyed the baseline Episode 1 of Hedon when it came out and I was pretty curious about Bloodrite. Hedon is already a peculiar beast amongst commercial retroshooters: first of all, it's deceptive as fuck as the author tries to sell you as a action-focused blood-pumping shooter, a thing Hedon for sure isn't (and Bloodrite even less). He ain't lying when he's telling you he's a fetishist for muscular women with dicks, tho.
Hedon in its first chapter had far more in common with Strife or even Arx Fatalis than most retroshooters: item hunting and map reading were essential and mass combat encounters were rare. I liked the naif quality of the art and the weapon selection was fun and varied, even if the enemy selection could have used a bit more variety from the clear Doom-derived "types".
Bloodrite is a clear labour of love. It's bigger and better than the first chapter. It's so much big and better that I was extensively sick of it by the time I reached the final boss, that I finished more because "I had to, gone this far" instead of any sense of accomplishment or, God forbid, fun. Bloodrite is .... do you enjoy 90ies adventure game style puzzles? I don't. Do you enjoy extensive running back and forth between hubs searching for hints scattered all around? I don't. Everything is done with so much care tho. The new weapon and enemies add a lot to the experience, but the last hub is so sprawling and messy, needing notekeeping (in a Doom mod!). I don't have the time nor the patience for such an experience nowadays, sadly. The final boss fight is well-done and complex, but it's also a tiresome slog of sub-phases and I only wanted it to be over.
Would I recommend Bloodrite? Yes, if someone enjoy a lot dungeon crawling on the Doom engine. I didn't like it as much as I should have, but you know.... even the best dessert done with the utmost love can become nauseating when consumed in excess. And Bloodrite in the end is simply a tad too much.
Hedon in its first chapter had far more in common with Strife or even Arx Fatalis than most retroshooters: item hunting and map reading were essential and mass combat encounters were rare. I liked the naif quality of the art and the weapon selection was fun and varied, even if the enemy selection could have used a bit more variety from the clear Doom-derived "types".
Bloodrite is a clear labour of love. It's bigger and better than the first chapter. It's so much big and better that I was extensively sick of it by the time I reached the final boss, that I finished more because "I had to, gone this far" instead of any sense of accomplishment or, God forbid, fun. Bloodrite is .... do you enjoy 90ies adventure game style puzzles? I don't. Do you enjoy extensive running back and forth between hubs searching for hints scattered all around? I don't. Everything is done with so much care tho. The new weapon and enemies add a lot to the experience, but the last hub is so sprawling and messy, needing notekeeping (in a Doom mod!). I don't have the time nor the patience for such an experience nowadays, sadly. The final boss fight is well-done and complex, but it's also a tiresome slog of sub-phases and I only wanted it to be over.
Would I recommend Bloodrite? Yes, if someone enjoy a lot dungeon crawling on the Doom engine. I didn't like it as much as I should have, but you know.... even the best dessert done with the utmost love can become nauseating when consumed in excess. And Bloodrite in the end is simply a tad too much.
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 13,591
First game of the year is beaten. I started Heroes of Might and Magic V campaign in 2014. Today, I beat it. I have moved on the the first expansion, and I am planning to play the second one, too.
I plan to play HoMM4 and HoMM 3 during the year. I will be playing them in backwards order. I have played 3 before, but 4 will be my first time.
I plan to play HoMM4 and HoMM 3 during the year. I will be playing them in backwards order. I have played 3 before, but 4 will be my first time.
I just finished GRIS.
It's hard to think of a most blatant example of "woman be sad" indie award bait, with obnoxious emo cutscenes that make no sense and gratuitious grandiloquent musical pieces.
On the other hand, as far as such games go the magic does work well, thanks to dreamy visuals and a beautiful OST. Regarding the gameplay itself, it's a pretty trivial platformer and at worse you'll waste a few minutes at some point wondering where to go next.
Hard to advise against it if you're the audience for that kind of games.
I found it to be a relaxing experience. It's very easy of course but the art is great and sometimes I just want to play something simple and undemanding.
Wyatt_Derp
Arcane
The Long Dark (winter favorite)
Went toe to toe with a bear on the ice at coastal highway. Had my revolver and took several shots at it when it charged me. It took me down twice and tore me to shreds, but I didn't die. I patched up with bandages and retreated, firing with every step. I made it back to my safe house on jack rabbit hill. The next day I cautiously returned to the bear's cave near misanthrope island and sure enough, it was lying there dead.
Over 60 pounds of bear meat and a choice bear pelt awaits.
Went toe to toe with a bear on the ice at coastal highway. Had my revolver and took several shots at it when it charged me. It took me down twice and tore me to shreds, but I didn't die. I patched up with bandages and retreated, firing with every step. I made it back to my safe house on jack rabbit hill. The next day I cautiously returned to the bear's cave near misanthrope island and sure enough, it was lying there dead.
Over 60 pounds of bear meat and a choice bear pelt awaits.
Wunderbar
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2015
- Messages
- 8,818
Completed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky.
A massive improvement over the original gameplay systems, but the new content is rather weak.
Gunplay feels much better thanks to reduced health of human enemies, and to balance this out they got their AI buffed and can now lob grenades with uncanny accuracy. Economy in CS actually works - thanks to a variety of tweaks, I was low on cash throughout the whole game. The new equipment repair/upgrade mechanic adds a long needed choice into progression system (should i upgrade by AK into a CQC-focused assault weapon, or into a long-ranged battle rifle?), and also serves as a good money sink. Weapons were rebalanced - the shotguns aren't just more useful now, they are actualy must-have to use against mutants (pistols are still bad, though). The survival aspect was rebalanced as well - bleeding is more of a real issue, healing is scarcer because enemies no longer shower you with spare medkits and bandages, and backtracking is more dangerous thanks to Emissions/blowouts.
But the best overhaul of the game is probably the artifacts system. In SoC, most of the artifacts were just a vendor trash, and you were able to find them almost everywhere just lying around. In CS, artifacts are now unique, and can only be found using special detectors while navigating inside dangerous anomaly fields. Their stats were overhauled too - instead of a weird SoC system where each artifact would give you small benefits and drawbacks, artifacts in CS now give you direct bonuses with the drawback of having to balance out extra rads. Suits now have different amount of artifact slots, which adds more choices in progression of your character - armor suits that offer the best protection (like Bulat) also have less slots.
Locations wise, the game recycles a lot of content from Shadow of Chernobyl, but the two new major locations (The Great Swamp and Red Forest) are both easily on par with the original both in terms of atmosphere and design. Swamp is a good early location that provides interesting navigational challenge (going into wrong direction will either give you a bunch of rads or wreck your shit with anomalies), and also highlights the usefulness of shotguns - hostile mutants are obscured by tall reeds, and because of that quite often you can't see them until they are at a point blank range. Red Forest, a famous real-life forest that died and became ginger-red after taking a brunt of radioactive damage in 1986, is probably the most atmospheric and desolate place in the entire game. Unfortunately, both of those locations suffer from a severe lack of meaningful content, because CS was built around the so called "faction war" system.
Seems like the devs took criticism towards factions and A-Life in SoC being not deep enough seriosly, so they decided to expand on those systems in the next game. Sadly, due to a lack of time they did it in a rather poor way - at its best, Faction war feels like a boring busywork, and at its worst the system feels broken. "Mercenary, we are being attacked by mutants, help us! Mercenary, we're taking over this outpost and we are short on a couple of guys so make sure you're there. Mercenary, there's another settlement that needs our help, I'll mark it on your map". Sometimes you are being bombarded with shitty repeating and time-sensitive quests, sometimes those shitty quests somehow solve themselves (one time bandits managed to take over loner's camp while i was away searching for a loot stash). Funnily enough, the best way to play CS is to not get involved in the war at all - not only you won't be pestered by enemy fire at every corner, you're also going to keep all of the technicians alive. I imagine it would be quite a shitty situation for players who decided to join Loners and wipe out Bandits to find out that the only technician in the world who was able to upgrade SEVA suit is now dead. Seems like the devs knew about the issue with dead technicians, since one of the quest givers gifts you a fully upgraded Vintorez shortly before you go past the point of no return.
The final stretch was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the shootouts in Limansk were quite memorable (I don't know if those segments can happen at any time of the day, but in my case the whole endgame happened at night, with flares periodically lighting up the battlefield in a very cinematic way). On the other hand, the hospital section was pretty bad (there's even a shitty helicopter bossfight), and the Pripyat segment was downright horrendous. From the story standpoint, the ending was a bit of a letdown too.
There's a widespread view that Clear Sky is not only the worst game in the series, but also a generally bad game that can be safely skipped. This is not true - Clear Sky isn't as bad as some would say. If you ignore the busywork of Faction wars, it's still a decent STALKER experience and a huge mechanical improvement over SoC.
A massive improvement over the original gameplay systems, but the new content is rather weak.
Gunplay feels much better thanks to reduced health of human enemies, and to balance this out they got their AI buffed and can now lob grenades with uncanny accuracy. Economy in CS actually works - thanks to a variety of tweaks, I was low on cash throughout the whole game. The new equipment repair/upgrade mechanic adds a long needed choice into progression system (should i upgrade by AK into a CQC-focused assault weapon, or into a long-ranged battle rifle?), and also serves as a good money sink. Weapons were rebalanced - the shotguns aren't just more useful now, they are actualy must-have to use against mutants (pistols are still bad, though). The survival aspect was rebalanced as well - bleeding is more of a real issue, healing is scarcer because enemies no longer shower you with spare medkits and bandages, and backtracking is more dangerous thanks to Emissions/blowouts.
But the best overhaul of the game is probably the artifacts system. In SoC, most of the artifacts were just a vendor trash, and you were able to find them almost everywhere just lying around. In CS, artifacts are now unique, and can only be found using special detectors while navigating inside dangerous anomaly fields. Their stats were overhauled too - instead of a weird SoC system where each artifact would give you small benefits and drawbacks, artifacts in CS now give you direct bonuses with the drawback of having to balance out extra rads. Suits now have different amount of artifact slots, which adds more choices in progression of your character - armor suits that offer the best protection (like Bulat) also have less slots.
Locations wise, the game recycles a lot of content from Shadow of Chernobyl, but the two new major locations (The Great Swamp and Red Forest) are both easily on par with the original both in terms of atmosphere and design. Swamp is a good early location that provides interesting navigational challenge (going into wrong direction will either give you a bunch of rads or wreck your shit with anomalies), and also highlights the usefulness of shotguns - hostile mutants are obscured by tall reeds, and because of that quite often you can't see them until they are at a point blank range. Red Forest, a famous real-life forest that died and became ginger-red after taking a brunt of radioactive damage in 1986, is probably the most atmospheric and desolate place in the entire game. Unfortunately, both of those locations suffer from a severe lack of meaningful content, because CS was built around the so called "faction war" system.
Seems like the devs took criticism towards factions and A-Life in SoC being not deep enough seriosly, so they decided to expand on those systems in the next game. Sadly, due to a lack of time they did it in a rather poor way - at its best, Faction war feels like a boring busywork, and at its worst the system feels broken. "Mercenary, we are being attacked by mutants, help us! Mercenary, we're taking over this outpost and we are short on a couple of guys so make sure you're there. Mercenary, there's another settlement that needs our help, I'll mark it on your map". Sometimes you are being bombarded with shitty repeating and time-sensitive quests, sometimes those shitty quests somehow solve themselves (one time bandits managed to take over loner's camp while i was away searching for a loot stash). Funnily enough, the best way to play CS is to not get involved in the war at all - not only you won't be pestered by enemy fire at every corner, you're also going to keep all of the technicians alive. I imagine it would be quite a shitty situation for players who decided to join Loners and wipe out Bandits to find out that the only technician in the world who was able to upgrade SEVA suit is now dead. Seems like the devs knew about the issue with dead technicians, since one of the quest givers gifts you a fully upgraded Vintorez shortly before you go past the point of no return.
The final stretch was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the shootouts in Limansk were quite memorable (I don't know if those segments can happen at any time of the day, but in my case the whole endgame happened at night, with flares periodically lighting up the battlefield in a very cinematic way). On the other hand, the hospital section was pretty bad (there's even a shitty helicopter bossfight), and the Pripyat segment was downright horrendous. From the story standpoint, the ending was a bit of a letdown too.
nothing you did really mattered, both you and your buddies from Clear Sky are now Monolith zombies
There's a widespread view that Clear Sky is not only the worst game in the series, but also a generally bad game that can be safely skipped. This is not true - Clear Sky isn't as bad as some would say. If you ignore the busywork of Faction wars, it's still a decent STALKER experience and a huge mechanical improvement over SoC.
ferratilis
Magister
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2019
- Messages
- 2,322
So, last year I tried The Darkness on Xbox, and unfortunately couldn't get into it because the controls were terrible and it was locked at 30fps. But what little I played, it had amazing voice acting and the gameplay reminded me a lot of Chronicles of Riddick. Same devs, same engine, same vibe. Those guys were good developers, they did some amazing things with lighting back in the day and their games were very atmospheric. It's a crime that game is stuck on Xbox because it looks like a PC game through and through, just gimped for consoles.
Now I decided to try Darkness 2 on PC and, even though it's a different developer and they used cel-shaded graphics, the game is pretty good. Still, the voice acting is some of the best I've heard in any game, ever. Even if you don't care about that, you can't help but notice how good it is. Mike Patton voices your inner devil, no wonder it's good. The optimization is not bad for a console port, there's an fov slider and it runs really well. The powers you get are interesting and work well with guns. It's easy to recommend because the game can be found for a dollar, so if anyone likes shooters, give it a whirl.
Now I decided to try Darkness 2 on PC and, even though it's a different developer and they used cel-shaded graphics, the game is pretty good. Still, the voice acting is some of the best I've heard in any game, ever. Even if you don't care about that, you can't help but notice how good it is. Mike Patton voices your inner devil, no wonder it's good. The optimization is not bad for a console port, there's an fov slider and it runs really well. The powers you get are interesting and work well with guns. It's easy to recommend because the game can be found for a dollar, so if anyone likes shooters, give it a whirl.
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
- Messages
- 7,330
Bought during the Christmas sale and finished Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, like everyone has said this is a spiritual successor of Symphony of Night,the gameplay is good and will satisfy most veterans of that game,the story is just there,the graphics and music are nice but not something spectacular.It overstays its welcome a bit if you want to go for the real/good ending.Recommended for everyone that likes metroidvania games and especialy Symphony of the Night
Denim Destroyer
Learned
I made the mistake of using the Complete Mod during my first playthrough which had the effect of turning that helicopter fight into a joke. Turns out a FAL in that mod with AP ammo can shred that helicopter in no time.
Wunderbar
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2015
- Messages
- 8,818
for me the helicopter was a joke even without mods, it got stuck in one corner of the arena and I destroyed it popamole-style by shooting it in a tail with vintorez.
Wunderbar
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2015
- Messages
- 8,818
Limansk looked great, too bad it's basically a glorified call of duty level. Would be nice if it was a normal exploreable location.
Denim Destroyer
Learned
After acquiring the game three years ago I finally got around to finishing Baldur's Gate 2. It really is deserving of all the praise it has received over the years. No superfluous gimmicks, walls of text, or bloated enemy stats. Just a simple mid level D&D campaign that never forgets its roots like so many other games inspired by it seem to do. You are an adventurer who needs to slay the bad guy and save the day. Despite this cliché the game never feels too generic. Locations are beautiful and varied. From the beginning in Athkatla to Suldanessellar every location feels unique with the variety in regards to both art directions and combat encounters. Combat while hectic never lasts long but the great amount of spells and powerful equipment help contribute to this. This fast paced combat can be annoying at times as if you try to minimize resting and spell usage there will be a lot of quick-loading. I knew from my time in Baldur's Gate 1 that rest spamming would cheapen the game while also making little sense so I decided to minimize it in other Infinity Engine games. Overall an excellent game that everyone who likes RPGs should play, of course I might be in a minority on this site when it comes to playing Baldur's Gate 2.
Sodafish
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2012
- Messages
- 8,539
Nah. It's a superb game, and I suspect almost everyone on this forum has played it at least once.
Now play Throne of Bhaal.
Denim Destroyer
Learned
Sorry that was suppose to say "when it comes to not having played Baldur's Gate 2." I have never been great at proofreading.
CthuluIsSpy
Arcane
Playing Iratus : Lord of the Dead.
Its basically Darkest Dungeon except not quite as grim dark (despite playing as a necromancer and literally scaring people to death) with a slight comedic angle. Also tits. Lots of tits.
Its ok. They did try to do their own thing and add mechanics such as stress, wards and blocks, but sometimes the mechanics feel a little jank.
The Inventor boss fight for example is an absolute whore because of how RNG dependent it is. If he summons three support pylons you're screwed because of the chain stuns, as unlike Darkest Dungeon you don't have stun protection after getting stunned. There is no Death's Door mechanic either, so I hope you got your debuffs and luck stat up to prevent crit one shots.
Overall though, its pretty fun. Stephen Weyte once again nails it as Iratus, who has some nice dialogue and sometimes you can hear bits of Caleb.
Its basically Darkest Dungeon except not quite as grim dark (despite playing as a necromancer and literally scaring people to death) with a slight comedic angle. Also tits. Lots of tits.
Its ok. They did try to do their own thing and add mechanics such as stress, wards and blocks, but sometimes the mechanics feel a little jank.
The Inventor boss fight for example is an absolute whore because of how RNG dependent it is. If he summons three support pylons you're screwed because of the chain stuns, as unlike Darkest Dungeon you don't have stun protection after getting stunned. There is no Death's Door mechanic either, so I hope you got your debuffs and luck stat up to prevent crit one shots.
Overall though, its pretty fun. Stephen Weyte once again nails it as Iratus, who has some nice dialogue and sometimes you can hear bits of Caleb.
CommunityGoat
Literate
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2022
- Messages
- 6
I got a Quest 2 recently so I'm now playing In Death Unchained in VR. I have to say, the bow and arrow type of game is absolutely amazing in Virtual Reality. It feels great to nail the skillshots. I love the update where you only get stronger as you die, so you don't feel as shitty when you get overpowered xD
Drop Duck
Learned
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2020
- Messages
- 687
As usual I am playing indie games. Sometimes they show so much promise only to fall flat on their face and it's hard to tell what the reason behind it is. Anemoiapolis is an upcoming indie game that attempts to coast on the now slightly aged idea of liminal spaces that got popular in obscure internet communities and then started going big for a while. The game isn't finished yet but you can pay a small sum of 6 USD to get access to the beta and full game when it comes out. The premise and initial presentation blew me away, it was very well done for a budget game made by one person and the level designed managed to capture the look it was going for. Alpha Beta Gamer has posted a playthrough so you can get an idea of what the game is about.
The problem shows itself halfway into the experience however and it doesn't go away. The idea of a liminal space is that it is in between and since there is little established beyond the mood of the in between, places that are in between being used and being abandoned, places you move through and often with other people and almost never find yourself alone in, unfinished spaces. That means that the developer has to come up a lot on their own because it is needed to go beyond the creepy but nostalgic photo phase. Anemoiapolis goes down the old and tired route of being spooky. There is a shadow of a man floating around and that is occasionally chasing the player. I can't think of anything more creatively bankrupt than this and it hurts since the rest of the game is so good.
There was another indie game about the same setup released last year called Liminal Ranger. The premise is similar also, only instead of you disappearing into the transitional liminal space it is your friend that does. To get him back you have to straighten out abandoned places, avoid back moods and remind them why they exist. The aesthetic of the game is completely off compared to the material that got the liminal trend going, but the narrative suits the theme better. Instead of a spooky scary ghost man chasing you and surprising you in ways that got old in F.E.A.R. after the first few levels. In Liminal Ranger you avoid bad vibes with a pogo stick and a teleporting coin on a mission to remind a run down hotel room of that time it gave someone comfort. It might not bring back chlorine filled memories while going down lazy river in high fidelity and slightly glitchy graphics but it is far more human. The shadows in Ranger are neither ironic nor use old cliches like the disappearing act to appear menacing, instead they pull on a much more potent string, they are lost and in despair. Just like you would expect an abandoned mall to be.
Liminal Ranger is free on itch, if anyone wants to check it out. Anemoiapolis might lack a soul, but the creator has talent, it's available for purchase on itch and you can wishlist it on steam.
The problem shows itself halfway into the experience however and it doesn't go away. The idea of a liminal space is that it is in between and since there is little established beyond the mood of the in between, places that are in between being used and being abandoned, places you move through and often with other people and almost never find yourself alone in, unfinished spaces. That means that the developer has to come up a lot on their own because it is needed to go beyond the creepy but nostalgic photo phase. Anemoiapolis goes down the old and tired route of being spooky. There is a shadow of a man floating around and that is occasionally chasing the player. I can't think of anything more creatively bankrupt than this and it hurts since the rest of the game is so good.
There was another indie game about the same setup released last year called Liminal Ranger. The premise is similar also, only instead of you disappearing into the transitional liminal space it is your friend that does. To get him back you have to straighten out abandoned places, avoid back moods and remind them why they exist. The aesthetic of the game is completely off compared to the material that got the liminal trend going, but the narrative suits the theme better. Instead of a spooky scary ghost man chasing you and surprising you in ways that got old in F.E.A.R. after the first few levels. In Liminal Ranger you avoid bad vibes with a pogo stick and a teleporting coin on a mission to remind a run down hotel room of that time it gave someone comfort. It might not bring back chlorine filled memories while going down lazy river in high fidelity and slightly glitchy graphics but it is far more human. The shadows in Ranger are neither ironic nor use old cliches like the disappearing act to appear menacing, instead they pull on a much more potent string, they are lost and in despair. Just like you would expect an abandoned mall to be.
Liminal Ranger is free on itch, if anyone wants to check it out. Anemoiapolis might lack a soul, but the creator has talent, it's available for purchase on itch and you can wishlist it on steam.
Gaznak
Learned
On a strange whim I installed Frater (aka The Chosen: Well of Souls) and I must confess I kinda enjoy it so far. I had a brief play session looong ago and quit it fast. Now it goes much better don't know why. Maybe just because I have a soft spot for low-budget shitty diabloids of every era (Broken Land, Space Siege, Space Hack from the same devs which made Frater later, Iesabel, Mage Knight and so on).
Frater has very comfortable GUI and overall nice 3D graphics of those times when it still could look neat without making your eyes bleed. The plot is usual 'Save us from the Evil One' thing (who needs plot in diabloids anyway?), 3 classes are standard warrior-archer-mage thing, skills are unmemorable and mostly useless nonsense although I do like the items system so far (there's nothing breath-taking here, it's usual prefix-suffix stuff but it works and doesn't irritate at least). Spells are nothing particularly memorable as well. You can also have 2 upgradable minions (Golem, quite standard action-RPG brutal clay guy and so called Neferkar, bee-like flyer with ranged attacks), but using only one of them at time.
Levels are linear but in quite varied environments and also not very long to explore, so this comes as a plus as well. Setting is similar to Van Helsing game, i.e. some fictional eastern Europe location(s) with relevant monster fauna. Sounds and music are quite good and add to the atmosphere.
The difficulty level seems quite adequate (I don't remember if the game has different DLs at all?), just to sit in a winter evening with a cup of tea with honey lazily killing various freaks and rummaging through your inventory without straining your eyes, forefingers, brains and reflexes.
Cautiously recommended for fans of this type of leisure.
Frater has very comfortable GUI and overall nice 3D graphics of those times when it still could look neat without making your eyes bleed. The plot is usual 'Save us from the Evil One' thing (who needs plot in diabloids anyway?), 3 classes are standard warrior-archer-mage thing, skills are unmemorable and mostly useless nonsense although I do like the items system so far (there's nothing breath-taking here, it's usual prefix-suffix stuff but it works and doesn't irritate at least). Spells are nothing particularly memorable as well. You can also have 2 upgradable minions (Golem, quite standard action-RPG brutal clay guy and so called Neferkar, bee-like flyer with ranged attacks), but using only one of them at time.
Levels are linear but in quite varied environments and also not very long to explore, so this comes as a plus as well. Setting is similar to Van Helsing game, i.e. some fictional eastern Europe location(s) with relevant monster fauna. Sounds and music are quite good and add to the atmosphere.
The difficulty level seems quite adequate (I don't remember if the game has different DLs at all?), just to sit in a winter evening with a cup of tea with honey lazily killing various freaks and rummaging through your inventory without straining your eyes, forefingers, brains and reflexes.
Cautiously recommended for fans of this type of leisure.
Wunderbar
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2015
- Messages
- 8,818
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
This game is basically "GSC aping Bethesda (with a moderate success)". CoP is structured as a complete open-world experience with the amout of loading screens kept to a minimum, and the main plot is just an excuse to send you to different corners of the map. Just like in Bethesda games, side content is the greatest strength of CoP - the quests are varied, offer some minor C&C, and sometimes even connected with each other. The exploration is pretty good, with secret stashes no longer spawning loot only after you find coordinates.
Unfortunately, the game also inherited most of the issues. The map design is basically a bethesdian "theme park", with points of interest dotted around in a very gamey way. The character progression is nonexistent - better protective suits only appear near the end of the game, upgrades aren't as important as they were in Clear Sky, and you can find a top-tier gun (Vintorez) in the first 30 minutes of the game. And what's worse - the game is very easy: economy and resource management don't matter (which is a real shame after Clear Sky), human enemies are rare, and the world feels mostly empty of threats.
Still, it is pretty impressive how GSC managed to develop an open world game with a decent quest design and a lot of small mechanical improvements in just one year.
This game is basically "GSC aping Bethesda (with a moderate success)". CoP is structured as a complete open-world experience with the amout of loading screens kept to a minimum, and the main plot is just an excuse to send you to different corners of the map. Just like in Bethesda games, side content is the greatest strength of CoP - the quests are varied, offer some minor C&C, and sometimes even connected with each other. The exploration is pretty good, with secret stashes no longer spawning loot only after you find coordinates.
Unfortunately, the game also inherited most of the issues. The map design is basically a bethesdian "theme park", with points of interest dotted around in a very gamey way. The character progression is nonexistent - better protective suits only appear near the end of the game, upgrades aren't as important as they were in Clear Sky, and you can find a top-tier gun (Vintorez) in the first 30 minutes of the game. And what's worse - the game is very easy: economy and resource management don't matter (which is a real shame after Clear Sky), human enemies are rare, and the world feels mostly empty of threats.
Still, it is pretty impressive how GSC managed to develop an open world game with a decent quest design and a lot of small mechanical improvements in just one year.
jackofshadows
Magister
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2019
- Messages
- 4,552
Arx Fatalis. I'm only 2.5h in and I like it so far. Feels like Thief in the undeground but with proper RPG mechanics, awesome. I knew about the magic system beforehand so I went for mage and it plays pretty cool, yea (even more so than in Grimrock). The overall atmosphere is great and the lore is intriguing enough although I was a bit confused by a Predator reference 
I've layed off games for a while prior to this so I'm glad that I'm getting hooked by some new RPG to me and a relatively old one at that.
I've layed off games for a while prior to this so I'm glad that I'm getting hooked by some new RPG to me and a relatively old one at that.
Bought Terminator Resistance during Steam Christmas sale and just finished it. The game had a good atmosphere with some tense moments in the early game when you need to sneak past most enemies. The gameplay itself is decent but nothing special, you have some poor mans RPG elements, handful of side quests but the level design does award any build which is nice. Played on Hard and found it a bit too easy once you get the plasma weapons to deal with Terminators. Not a big fan of scripted, linear sections which are done quite often. Wish the maps you are free to explore to be a bit bigger with more pieces of lore and environmental storytelling. Also while exploring every nook and cranny it took me around 13 hours to finish the game, which I think is too little for the full priced game.
Overall a surprisingly fun and interesting game based on a movie franchise, especially a movie franchise that didnt create anything of value since Terminator 2. Despite its faults I recommend it to all even if you are not a fan of the films, but get it on a big discount. I paid it 19.99 and thats the top price I recommend you get it for.
Overall a surprisingly fun and interesting game based on a movie franchise, especially a movie franchise that didnt create anything of value since Terminator 2. Despite its faults I recommend it to all even if you are not a fan of the films, but get it on a big discount. I paid it 19.99 and thats the top price I recommend you get it for.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2017
- Messages
- 28,171
ΔV: Rings of Saturn is pretty neat. It's not AS autistic about its physics simulation as I expected, mainly because it operates on a 2D plane, but its still neat. Microwaving ice and harvesting minerals is comfy.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2018
- Messages
- 1,327
Icewind Dale: Complete Edition Just reached chapter 2 and started cleaning the lizardmen caves from lizardmen.
My party so far:
A human paladin, who thanks to 14 constitution and a few bad rolls doesn't have much HP for a frontliner. A nice amulet i found in the kresselack's tomb helped to deal with this weakness. Pretty effective thanks to his long lasting protection from evil buff, occasional smite and 18/98 strength score(the highest in the party).
A dwarf warrior with the highest HP in the party. Kinda regret putting my first proficiency point into hammers because it seems like axes are better itemised here. Like with the paladin dex could be higher, i kinda forgot that heavy armors don't have a max dex bonus like in the later DnD editions.
A gnome fighter/thief, the most shamelessly minmaxed party member with three 18s in all the right places. Very useful with his stealth and backstab ability. I think i made a mistake of making maces one of his specializations instead of clubs. Seems like you can backstab undead here.
An elven ranger who sounds like a pirate and has the biggest murder count so far. Very strong with his composite longbow but can also smash everyone in melee when needed. I kinda like the ranger tracking feature, it gives both flavour text and some useful info about the current location, like warning me about spiders as if giving me a 15 bottles of antidote wasn't a hint enough.
A half-elven cleric. In addition to always helpful heals and buffs i found the silence spell to be particularly useful. Unsure of what i should be using my 3 tier spellslots for. The only woman and the least murderous party member according to in-game statistics.
A generalist human mage, who because of me trying not to abuse rest too much doesn't cast too often. I am a bit unsure about my spell choices, sleep and web are useful indeed. Chromatic orb and magic missile i found useful at interrupting the enemy spellcasting. Haste was indeed powerful the one time i get to use it, i am yet to try the skull trap. Didn't found any trouble in keeping him out of the harm's way so i am not using my limited spellsots for defensive spells yet.
I enjoy how 'unpretentious' the plot in this game is. Like, this undead warlord with a cool voice asks you to kill the frost priestess who wants to fill his tomb and Kuldahar with snow and shit. And when you find the frost priestess you learn that this is indeed the case, she wants to fill his tomb and Kuldahar with snow and shit. Feels nice for some reason.
I also tried Dark Bestiary. "Buildporn: the game" essentially, with turn-based combat and a lot of interesting skill trees with abilities you're encouraged to mix and match. There is campaign mode with town from which you choose your missions and a roguelike mode. A nice little timewaster.
My party so far:
A human paladin, who thanks to 14 constitution and a few bad rolls doesn't have much HP for a frontliner. A nice amulet i found in the kresselack's tomb helped to deal with this weakness. Pretty effective thanks to his long lasting protection from evil buff, occasional smite and 18/98 strength score(the highest in the party).
A dwarf warrior with the highest HP in the party. Kinda regret putting my first proficiency point into hammers because it seems like axes are better itemised here. Like with the paladin dex could be higher, i kinda forgot that heavy armors don't have a max dex bonus like in the later DnD editions.
A gnome fighter/thief, the most shamelessly minmaxed party member with three 18s in all the right places. Very useful with his stealth and backstab ability. I think i made a mistake of making maces one of his specializations instead of clubs. Seems like you can backstab undead here.
An elven ranger who sounds like a pirate and has the biggest murder count so far. Very strong with his composite longbow but can also smash everyone in melee when needed. I kinda like the ranger tracking feature, it gives both flavour text and some useful info about the current location, like warning me about spiders as if giving me a 15 bottles of antidote wasn't a hint enough.
A half-elven cleric. In addition to always helpful heals and buffs i found the silence spell to be particularly useful. Unsure of what i should be using my 3 tier spellslots for. The only woman and the least murderous party member according to in-game statistics.
A generalist human mage, who because of me trying not to abuse rest too much doesn't cast too often. I am a bit unsure about my spell choices, sleep and web are useful indeed. Chromatic orb and magic missile i found useful at interrupting the enemy spellcasting. Haste was indeed powerful the one time i get to use it, i am yet to try the skull trap. Didn't found any trouble in keeping him out of the harm's way so i am not using my limited spellsots for defensive spells yet.
I enjoy how 'unpretentious' the plot in this game is. Like, this undead warlord with a cool voice asks you to kill the frost priestess who wants to fill his tomb and Kuldahar with snow and shit. And when you find the frost priestess you learn that this is indeed the case, she wants to fill his tomb and Kuldahar with snow and shit. Feels nice for some reason.
I also tried Dark Bestiary. "Buildporn: the game" essentially, with turn-based combat and a lot of interesting skill trees with abilities you're encouraged to mix and match. There is campaign mode with town from which you choose your missions and a roguelike mode. A nice little timewaster.
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