The Video Game Thread

[Imarevenant]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Oh well, we all have our opinions. I for one thought DA:Inquisition was a soulless piece of crap. <strong>The second one was even worse</strong>, and though I declares DA:Origins to be my GotY, there just weren't that many interesting games (for me).</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the world that loves Hawke <img alt=":(" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[BHK1978]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Imarevenant" data-cite="Imarevenant" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the world that loves Hawke <img alt=":(" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Nah you're not the only one. I enjoyed all three games in the series thus far. Granted the second one was probably my least favorite out of the three, but besides the occasional bug in the game, I enjoyed it.</p>

[Blackman]

<p>I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who thinks it annoying that they're fully recycling a dungeon map for another quests where 80% of the map is just empty (including dead ends). In Witcher, for instance, every dead part of the map at least had some items that made your 30second detour worth something. I'm not saying every minute needs to be "worth your while", but it should be. Add to that that the main quest was just boring with you running around in the city doing "stuff" (which you're also doing in BG2 except the quests are in fact fun). DA2 as a whole is just the sum of its parts, and those parts aren't exactly top-notch. But if you care about core gameplay, I guess that was decent, though the simplification in favor of console audience (let's face it: DA1 on console was difficult to control in relation to the PC version) didn't please me.</p><p> </p><p>

The reviews are in for ME:Andromeda, and some aren't too shabby. Apparently, the narrative has taken a turn for the worse, though one can interpret that as "fan service", especially how fans didn't want any more intriguing decisions that don't matter in the end. I've seen fragments of cutscenes, and I can confirm that - at times - it's really poorly written. But gameplay's all good.</p>

[Celuwyn]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who thinks it annoying that they're fully recycling a dungeon map for another quests where 80% of the map is just empty (including dead ends). In Witcher, for instance, every dead part of the map at least had some items that made your 30second detour worth something. I'm not saying every minute needs to be "worth your while", but it should be. Add to that that the main quest was just boring with you running around in the city doing "stuff" (which you're also doing in BG2 except the quests are in fact fun). DA2 as a whole is just the sum of its parts, and those parts aren't exactly top-notch. But if you care about core gameplay, I guess that was decent, though the simplification in favor of console audience (let's face it: DA1 on console was difficult to control in relation to the PC version) didn't please me.<p> </p><p> The reviews are in for ME:Andromeda, and some aren't too shabby. Apparently, the narrative has taken a turn for the worse, though one can interpret that as "fan service", especially how fans didn't want any more intriguing decisions that don't matter in the end. I've seen fragments of cutscenes, and I can confirm that - at times - it's really poorly written. But gameplay's all good.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> The majority of review is "Well, the character lack the charisma of Garrus and Wrex"</p><p> </p><p> Well, you should replay ME1 and you will see that Garrus has ZERO charisma in the first one, and Wrex is a real pain.</p>

[The Final Countdown]

<p>Not to beat a dead horse, but the ME3 ending was garbage. And not because the relays blow up and Shepard (arguably) dies. I'm no stranger to tragic endings to a story, and if they're done right I have no problem with them. It's garbage because it makes no narrative sense. Space Boy's entire motivation was to save all life from being utterly eradicated by the artificial intelligence the species create, because that's apparently inevitable....</p><p> </p><p>

...except you've literally just united the Geth and Quarians hours earlier, unless you screwed up. Sorry, you can't actually make this point to Space Boy, and nothing you did at any point over the three games actually matters at all. Now shut up and pick a color!</p><p> </p><p>

Moving on though: I thought the ending sucked, but I can't say it's made me give up on BioWare as a whole. I was skeptical heading into DA: Inquisition, both because of the ME3 ending and because I thought DA2 was a disappointment. (It wasn't terrible; just rushed and incomplete. I thought there were some interesting ideas there in the story and it could've been a great game if they'd had another year or so to work on it.) Yet I loved Inquisition. Not as much as Origins, but I thought it was great.</p><p> </p><p>

I'll probably give Andromeda a try at some point, but I'm nowhere near as excited as I was for ME2 or 3. I preordered the collector's editions of both of those games and dove into them the moment they were released. With Andromeda I'll probably wait until later in the year and pick it up at a discounted price. In the meantime I'm still working my way through Witcher 3 and at the pace I'm going it'll probably take me through the summer at least, especially since I already paid for both of the big DLC things when they were available at a discount.</p>

[Blackman]

<p>The issue is that people are looking for durable output, even if the trilogy is finished and there will be no more involvement from the player. Most have forgot that the threat is in fact very real, and is presented as almost a certainty, a cycle that repeated itself for countless times despite the resistance of superior races in the past. Under impulse from Shephard, the sentient races decide they won't just lay down and die. Good for them, but a reality check might be in order. The imminent destruction is almost a given. Many people forget that humanity isn't the top of the food chain anymore. An easy oversight.</p><p> </p><p>

We are trained by entertainment that it all ends well... all the time (even in Game of Thrones). It's naive. Add to that that players want their 'gaming proficiency' to be recognized and want to be treated by the game as some sort of overlord being that controls and dominates his environment, be it to accomodate to their always-persistent need to achieve that is - unfortunately - not always fulfilled in their real life. If it's not fulfilled in their game instead, they end up pissed. It's understandable. <em>"I didn't get that promotion/relationship, but by gawd I saved a fictional galaxy. I must be doin' sumtin' right"</em>. I observe that with myself in a way, and I'm pretty sure many gamers have similar feelings.</p><p> </p><p>

If you played the 'good guy', your game will end up with all races of all shapes and sizes united against the common threat. They all stand together and quite frankly die together despite the gigantic effort made by the player. But isn't that enough? Fiction or not: realistically, it would be an amazing achievement to unite every one in and of itself (taking reality as a measuring stick). Does it matter that we all die? Unity, thàt's the endgame. What other endgame do you guys have in mind? Keep on living somehow doing random stuff? Letting humanity control the entire universe? Afaik, there's not a final level the universe needs to complete. Diversity is perhaps one of the main themes today (and has always been) alongside ecological concerns. One can claim Shephard somehow achieved the first. Good job I'd say.</p><p> </p><p>

Now I know that if you draw the parallel with ecologics, I'm sure everyone realizes that if we continue to do what we do - which is what people want given their disgust for the ending - we will destroy ourselves. However, if we would unity everyone against that threat we can in fact change the nature of the threat and succeed. The game doesn't have that result. True. But imo that's not the point: the endgame is uniting everyone. Nothing more, nothing less.</p>

[Blackman]

<p>Been playing over 20 hours of Andromeda (v1.05) so far and enjoyed it, but it doesn't have the same appeal as ME1 to 3. The conversations are generally on a lower level as well, with some just plain childish in nature. There is a nice amount of content but half of it are numeric fetch quests tagged as "tasks" which are skippable. The main story is fine and level design is quite good. It doesn't deserve the gamespot rating of 6 but it's pretty far from a solid 9 too. The problem with public perception is that established IP's that step down a notch will get slammed by the userbase. It's just the way things are.</p><p> </p><p>

Imo it's worth its price but don't expect a stellar experience like Witcher 3 (if you're like me and coming from that level of quality). I'm not superexcited to play further but outside of TEW I've nothing else to do videogaming-wise so I might as well continue. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[Celuwyn]

a bit late, but i just finished Middle earth : shadow of mordor

[Hive]

a bit late, but i just finished Middle earth : shadow of mordor

 

I'm playing through that currently! I love the gore and detailed Orc-murders.

 

...though it gets repetitive rather fast.

[Celuwyn]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hive" data-cite="Hive" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm playing through that currently! I love the gore and detailed Orc-murders. <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> ...though it gets repetitive rather fast.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2qyJqgG8cOU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War Gameplay"></iframe></div></div> the trailer for the next game in case someone haven't see this.<p> </p><p> But yeah.. the game is a little bit repetitive. But still a good game <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[Blackman]

I've crossed that game off my backlog because it is so damn repetitive. After a hiatus of three months I started it up again and got tired after 5 minutes. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Good game, especially for 4$, but not for me right now.

[Hive]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Celuwyn" data-cite="Celuwyn" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> <div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2qyJqgG8cOU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War Gameplay"></iframe></div></div> the trailer for the next game in case someone haven't see this.<p> </p><p> But yeah.. the game is a little bit repetitive. But still a good game <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Impressive trailer of sorts. But I'll reserve judgement for release.</p>

[Clarity]

<p>So... I have a confession.</p><p> </p><p>

I've heard multiplayer gaming can be a right blast, but never managed to find a group or game that kept my interests (especially since i'm the only person I know with an XB1)</p><p> </p><p>

I tried the FPS style games (Call Of Duty, Destiny etc), but didn't gel.</p><p> </p><p>

I think I found my jam though.. Farming Sim 17. Before I knew it, 3 hours had past and I hadn't eaten. We had however turned his farm around after it had been trashed by another player (they'd sold his sheds, leased out loads of vehicles with high rental charges)</p><p> </p><p>

At the end of the session, things were actually looking quite positive.. Sure, he still had no buildings, and lots of debt, but it was LESS debt and things were growing again..</p><p> </p><p>

I think the point i'm making, is if you have an XB1 and the game, hit me up</p>

[Celuwyn]

The first game were boring, but in the end the developer have made great change to the game, and i know some people who play that game all day, so you're not alone <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

[kingjames]

<p>I've been playing Planet Coaster on and off for a bit. I didn't pick up Roller Coaster Tycoon until years after it had been released, and that was only the third game. But I've really been enjoying Planet Coaster. I dunno. I guess...I mean, I'm a bit of a Bioware mark - and as for the comments previous, even if DA2 wasn't a spectacular masterpiece, I don't know that I've ever felt closer to a player character than I was to Victoria Hawke, the warrior whose snark and silliness covered a well of hurt, who loved a pirate queen and tried to see the good in everyone. But overall, the older I get...the less I want to play games about destruction. I don't know. The world is full of destruction and death and division. The older I get, the more I want to create and nurture.</p><p> </p><p>

So, games like Planet Coaster, where I can create a park that makes virtual people happy? Or Stardew Valley, where I can turn overgrown and barren land into a living farm and help my neighbors? Or Cities: Skylines, where I can try to create a sustainable city of happy, healthy, educated citizens? Or, say, TEW 2016, where I can try and tell interesting stories and grow a company? They just appeal so much more to me than games about killing things at this point. Even the Bioware games, for me, have the appeal of trying to build something that brings people together for the common good. Maybe it's all very Pollyanna. But if there's an element of wish fulfillment in gaming, those are the kinds of wishes I'd like to see fulfilled. Maybe it goes without saying that people play the games they play for any number of reasons, and most reasons aren't any better than any other reasons, but I'll say it anyway.</p><p> </p><p>

That was a tangent, sheesh. Back to the more immediate point. If anyone's been playing Planet Coaster and wants to share blueprints or whatever, I'd be intrigued to see what you've built!</p>

[Clarity]

So... the Mass Effect series has been shelved <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

[Blackman]

To be honest, Andromeda has been shelved even though I only got about halfway through the game. It's just not that interesting, especially if you're coming from Witcher III. I guess I'll play it eventually, but any bar visit is way more interesting than Andromeda, unless you're desperate for that kind of game.

[Ayden]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>To be honest, Andromeda has been shelved even though I only got about halfway through the game. It's just not that interesting, especially if you're coming from Witcher III. I guess I'll play it eventually, but any bar visit is way more interesting than Andromeda, unless you're desperate for that kind of game.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I was in the camp that the initial hate it got was unfair especially when relating to the original trilogys ending. In saying that, I haven't played this in about six weeks or so and Im not hankering to get back into it. This shelving might be for the best me thinks</p>

[codey_v2]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Ayden" data-cite="Ayden" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28397" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I was in the camp that the initial hate it got was unfair especially when relating to the original trilogys ending. In saying that, I haven't played this in about six weeks or so and Im not hankering to get back into it. This shelving might be for the best me thinks</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Same. The performance issues and bugs didn't bother me because the gameplay was still fun, but as I played more of the game, it just felt like I was running around massive, lifeless worlds and I just got...bored. I probably won't ever finish the game.</p>

[Rickymex]

Alan Wake is 90% off on Steam for about 36 hours. The music rights are ending and the company doesn't know if they can renew them. The game might end up pulled out so if you want it for cheap now is the time. The full bundle costs about 4 bucks.

[Blackman]

Yeah but time is more precious. Walking around with a light source doesnt cut it for me. Presentation was good though.

[Fleisch]

I bought Andromeda last week (on sale) but haven't even installed it to my Xbox yet. I'm in no rush to play it as currently I'm having fun (still) with Ghost Recon Wildlands. Yeah the missions are pretty "samey" but it's good fun playing it with friends, splitting off and doing your own things and then meeting up for the mission.

 

Also still have a few other games installed I am more eager to play so Andromeda may very well have to wait a while before I fire it up.

 

Just as well there are no games until Red Dead Redemption 2 that I am waiting for.

[Guest HerlindaAshworth]

I do believe that Mass Effect is officially over. This is the end.

The hole series is buried after this kind of fail.

Nothing to add here.

[Celuwyn]

I do believe that Mass Effect is officially over. This is the end.

The hole series is buried after this kind of fail.

Nothing to add here.

 

What fail ? Andromeda was good.

[Jaysin]

Randomly picked up Steamworld Heist and The Outsider DLC. Been a long time since I've lost myself in a game the way I have with this one.

 

I described it to my brother as a Steampunk Firefly meets a side scrolling version of XCom. Plus, the music

 

Obsessed with it.