Has anyone played any good video games lately?

Started by Music is life, July 20, 2013, 06:54:11 PM

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Sel Nar

Go back to it after a month or two; Digital Extremes keeps adding lots of cool new shit to the game, and it's only fair to give it a poke to see how it changes over time.

Mathim

I finally got a PS3 and I started playing South Park: The Stick of Truth. Freakin' amazing. One of the better property-based games, usually basing something on an existing franchise bombs but this was a beautiful effort.
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).

SinXAzgard21

I'm playing Warframe again.  It is a good time sink since I'm not buying games at the moment.  Getting ready to move and all.
If you know me personally, you know how to contact me.

Sara Nilsson

Divinity Dragon Commander.

yeah the RTS bit isn't the best but it suits me perfectly as I dont like RTS ^^ The humor I find is spot on, and the game brings up such things as healthcare, equal rights for women, right for gays to marry (I am soo pissing off the dwarves ^^)

Twisted Crow

Rumble Roses XX... if anything to give me game ideas for E. And it's actually a decent game aside from the obvious, but delicious fan-service.


Mathim

Man, South Park Stick of Truth was over WAY too soon. It's only about half as long as I expected. That was so not worth the time I waited for it, damn it.

I started playing Fallout 3 which was one of the games included with my PS3. Pretty freakin' fun, I usually don't like FPS-type games but since it's more about exploration rather than just being dropped into a frantic warzone, it's a lot more my speed.
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).

SinXAzgard21

Quote from: Mathim on April 21, 2014, 03:39:28 PM
Man, South Park Stick of Truth was over WAY too soon. It's only about half as long as I expected. That was so not worth the time I waited for it, damn it.

I started playing Fallout 3 which was one of the games included with my PS3. Pretty freakin' fun, I usually don't like FPS-type games but since it's more about exploration rather than just being dropped into a frantic warzone, it's a lot more my speed.

Only so many poop jokes before ideas are gone.
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Mathim

Quote from: SinXAzgard21 on April 21, 2014, 04:11:58 PM
Only so many poop jokes before ideas are gone.

Oh, fiddlesticks. There was tons of stuff they could have explored that got left undone. It felt like the game was only half-completed by the time the final boss fight came up. They didn't do anything with snow which is what the entire town is covered in at all times, that was already something huge they could have included. I mean, the gameplay takes place over three days in South Park. I would have expected, in order to be fully satisfied, seven days' worth of exploration and missions.
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).

SinXAzgard21

Quote from: Mathim on April 21, 2014, 04:59:25 PM
Oh, fiddlesticks. There was tons of stuff they could have explored that got left undone. It felt like the game was only half-completed by the time the final boss fight came up. They didn't do anything with snow which is what the entire town is covered in at all times, that was already something huge they could have included. I mean, the gameplay takes place over three days in South Park. I would have expected, in order to be fully satisfied, seven days' worth of exploration and missions.

I stand by my statement.
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consortium11

To be fair it wouldn't be an authentic Obsidian game if it didn't feel half-finished in at least one way, shape or form.

Mathim

Quote from: consortium11 on April 21, 2014, 05:33:04 PM
To be fair it wouldn't be an authentic Obsidian game if it didn't feel half-finished in at least one way, shape or form.

Not having a lot of background on Obsidian, I can't comment.
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).

WackWackWack

I played Dragon Age II lately and to be honest people give it more crap than it deserves. It desperately needed some polish but otherwise, it improved on somethings like combat and its story in general was a huge breath of fresh air from the usual BioWare trope filled games.

consortium11

Quote from: Mathim on April 22, 2014, 02:30:00 PM
Not having a lot of background on Obsidian, I can't comment.

I should start off by saying I like Obsidian and they're probably my favorite AAA (or at least close) game developer going today. Pillars of Eternity is high up there in the list of games I'm really looking forward to.

But Obsidian have a reputation... somewhat over-stated but also deserved... for releasing games which either have half-finished content or are bug riddled. Knights of the Old Republic 2 was both bug riddled and missing content, Neverwinter Nights 2 was full of glitches and bugs, Alpha Protocol had a combination of bugs, glitches and some weak gameplay (and I love AP) and New Vegas came with many a bug (although no worse than Fallout 3).

As a general rule Obsidian seem to be too ambitious with regards to what they can create, especially within a set timeframe (KOTOR 2 is the perfect example with the short development time allowed and the amount of stuff they tried to do). What that tends to mean is that you get some brilliant elements but a pretty rough-shod overall experience that is only really gets polished months (or even years) after release and with the aid of some really dedicated modders.

Quote from: WackWackWack on April 25, 2014, 04:03:03 AM
I played Dragon Age II lately and to be honest people give it more crap than it deserves. It desperately needed some polish but otherwise, it improved on somethings like combat and its story in general was a huge breath of fresh air from the usual BioWare trope filled games.

Honestly, I can't agree at all. I didn't love DA:O as much as some other people but DA2 was awful in pretty much every way.

I hated the pop-a-mole combat. I hated the fact that pretty much every encounter followed a set pattern (wave one: trash mob attacked, wave two; a second trash mob warp in/crawl out of the floor/fall from the ceiling, wave three: repeat as necessary). I hated the combat animations and the "press a button, something awesome happens" design mentality (mage uses his bazooka staff; twists in some bizarre gun kata ritual that looks like he's having a siezure. Warrior uses his double-handed weapon; anime-style leaping and spinning with no sense of weight). I hated the fact that the only real "tactical" parts of it were running your supporting characters around because trash mob two would warp in right next to them and on higher difficulties making sure your AoE attacks didn't hit your own party.

I don't see the plot as avoiding tropes either. There were a few solid parts (your relationship with the Arishok being a good example) but even setting aside the plot holes that hit you over the head pretty much as soon as the prologue is over and the almost complete lack of meaningful C&C, the plot still falls into pretty much every trope you can imagine. "Dramatic", "emotional" deaths sprinkled in at regular intervals, searching for the treasures of a long lost civilisation, competing factions trying to use you as a pawn (despite it making no real difference which side uses you), "you alone can save the city!" style quests, magic vs order etc etc. For all the talk of it being "personal", very few of the quests actually had anything to do with you, especially once you'd returned from the Deep Roads and for all the talk of it being "low key" the plot could basically be broken down to: imagine you sacked the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant for untold riches, then Saladin and a Crusading army both invaded Constantinople while a near defunct Roman Emperor tries to balance the forces, while the unruly and dangerous creatures of the night face off against the local paranormal circle. Of course, you're so awesome that every single one of these characters want to use you. That's not "low key", "personal" or trope free in anyway.

On a somewhat related note, the trailer of DA:I just dropped. It's hard to tell much from a non-gameplay trailer (despite the title) but, even so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO2h4qUNJ60

... I'm not optimistic...


Timeless

.. And I'm getting back into Warframe.

Hello 500+ hours on that game. >3> Be prepared to be added!

... Oooooo, new shiney Warframe! ;___;

Shjade

I tried getting back into Warframe recently, but it's just turned into such an extreme farmfest for any of the new stuff that it's ridiculous. Argon crystals are terrible, seemingly impossible to farm in any quantity solo and I'm not one for pugging groups into the Void just to farm. That and despite some new gear additions to the game it doesn't seem like anything's been added that outright tops my pre-existing loadout (Latron Prime/Soma, Brakk, Dual Ichor) aside from maybe the Dragon Nikana which, again, requires argon crystals.

If you've designed your game such that it requires not only a full party, but a full party with at least one specific warframe (Nekros) in it specifically to farm things effectively, you've fucked up.
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WackWackWack

The over the top combat animations are what make it so cool. It didn't feel as horribly static as DA:O, it didn't feel as if it was just static numbers and health bars, I felt more involved and for the most part, you can't really just mash X to success, you need some form of strategy and management, especially with combat being faster now. Like those assassin lieutenant guys, try facing those by just mashing X. I would have liked more strategy option from the synchronizing the abilities of different party members window, but otherwise it was solid and fun, with room for improvement however.

And now, for the story:
If we're gonna call deaths a dramatic cliche/trope, that pretty much qualifies for most of every book, game, movie there is. Hawke isn't some magical hero with the answers. Hawke is just trying to look do the best he can with what he's given, he's a product of circumstance, he was there at the right time at the right place, or the wrong time at the wrong place depending on how you look at it. You can see that within the framed narrative, how often Cassandra is surprised at things like Hawke not knowing what was in The Deep Roads, how he didn't plan for an entire Qunari uprising to cease power. That's the case with act 1 and act 2. One of the things Varric points out at the end tt is The Champion was more or less an accessory, Hawke can't save the city, now matter what he does or tries to do. A prime example of this is the entirety of act III. You don't get a third choice, you can't fight off hordes of Templars and Mages and save the city, other people in this world make decisions, they shape the world aswell. Its personal in that it's a self contained political struggle, not a world shattering quest of epic proportions. It's definitely a far cry from DA:O's typical fantasy story with reskinned orcs.

Also been playing Assassin's Creed III, horribly underrated entry and probably my favorite in the franchise. I love the setting, the plot, the characters, the gameplay was improved *combat still sucks though*, the graphics, the world, naval.

Inkidu

I'm in for the setting, and DA II had Bioware stepping out of their narrative comfort zone, and I hope they weren't discouraged from doing that again. I was getting really tired of the Bioware story formula.

I'm into Dragon Age for the setting more than gameplay, so as long as its decent I'm happy.
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SinXAzgard21

Quote from: Timeless on April 25, 2014, 07:19:34 AM
.. And I'm getting back into Warframe.

Hello 500+ hours on that game. >3> Be prepared to be added!

... Oooooo, new shiney Warframe! ;___;

I play, you can PM me for my steam name if you'd like.  There are a few of us on the Elli mumble that play as well.
If you know me personally, you know how to contact me.

Timeless

Quote from: SinXAzgard21 on April 25, 2014, 02:28:55 PM
I play, you can PM me for my steam name if you'd like.  There are a few of us on the Elli mumble that play as well.

Ohh, awesome! I'll PM you in just a bit. XD

Drake Valentine

I went back to Baldur's Gate series.

Really hoping on III some day, been hearing different stories so not sure if it will see light of day.

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Chris Brady

Quote from: consortium11 on April 25, 2014, 04:41:42 AM
I should start off by saying I like Obsidian and they're probably my favorite AAA (or at least close) game developer going today. Pillars of Eternity is high up there in the list of games I'm really looking forward to.

But Obsidian have a reputation... somewhat over-stated but also deserved... for releasing games which either have half-finished content or are bug riddled. Knights of the Old Republic 2 was both bug riddled and missing content, Neverwinter Nights 2 was full of glitches and bugs, Alpha Protocol had a combination of bugs, glitches and some weak gameplay (and I love AP) and New Vegas came with many a bug (although no worse than Fallout 3).

As a general rule Obsidian seem to be too ambitious with regards to what they can create, especially within a set timeframe (KOTOR 2 is the perfect example with the short development time allowed and the amount of stuff they tried to do). What that tends to mean is that you get some brilliant elements but a pretty rough-shod overall experience that is only really gets polished months (or even years) after release and with the aid of some really dedicated modders.

Ah, Obsidian are great story crafters, not so hot coders.

But KoTOR 2 was not their fault.  That was LucasArts, they wanted the game by Xmas, come hell or high water.  And they got it.
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consortium11

Quote from: Drake Valentine on April 26, 2014, 02:15:09 AM
I went back to Baldur's Gate series.

Really hoping on III some day, been hearing different stories so not sure if it will see light of day.

Unlikely in any meaningful sense.

The legal rights to the Baldur's Gate IP remain a pretty convoluted mess caught up between general D&D rights (held by WotC) and Atari which hold the rights to the game (and are in serious financial trouble). Understandably considering it's been 13 years since the last "proper" BG game the team that put together the first two has moved around and broken up while Bioware (who developed the first two) has moved away from "classic" isometric RPGs; Dragon Age: Origins was meant to be a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate but as we saw from DA2 and from the first looks at DA3 they've gone in a different direction since.

As things stand the company probably best positioned to make it would be Overrun Games, which are part of Beamdog, as they made the two "enhanced editions" that were released recently. Unfortunately both were pretty awful; in terms of improving the technical aspects of the original games they were less effective than mods that had been around for years (and the enhanced editions brought their own sea of bugs and glitches) and the new content they added fell into the "badly made fan-mod" territory.

If you're looking for an upcoming spiritual successor your best bet would probably be Pillars of Eternity (which I linked to above). Obsidian were originally lined up to make Baldurs Gate 3 before it was cancelled due to Interplay's troubles and their team features many of the developers who pretty much mastered creating infinity engine games.

Quote from: Chris Brady on April 26, 2014, 02:28:13 AM
Ah, Obsidian are great story crafters, not so hot coders.

That's probably a little too simplistic but pretty much accurate.

Quote from: Chris Brady on April 26, 2014, 02:28:13 AMBut KoTOR 2 was not their fault.  That was LucasArts, they wanted the game by Xmas, come hell or high water.  And they got it.

LucasArts certainly should carry some of the blame for how KoTOR 2 turned out but at the same time Obsidian can't completely shrug off criticism. Obsidian knew how long the development cycle was when they started the project; it was their decision to be ambitious with the amount of stuff they included. If you know you have nine months to make a game one should be less ambitious than if you have two years to make it; Obsidian weren't.

Inkidu

I'm playing Infinity Wars right now. Lots of Infinity Wars.

Dark Souls II is kind of hit or miss. It all feels so samey.

And I'm playing a TCG's PVP. :P

That's saying something.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Mathim

Since I'm new to the whole PS3-generation stuff, if I say I really, really enjoyed Fallout III, are there any other games I might like that are similar? I'm looking for stuff that's mostly exploration-emphasis rather than frequent-combat scenarios if that makes any sense. I know First Person Shooters are dominating the market but by and large, they all appear to be carbon-copies at a cursory glance. Recommendations?

And also, I know they've probably all but done away with the traditional JRPG genre but are there any of those on the PS3 anyone can recommend? Anything even remotely similar to the Final Fantasy series would be great (ironically I'm not interested in Final Fantasy XIII or any of the others that may have come out since).
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).