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Post by Nowhere Man on Nov 18, 2018 10:33:35 GMT -5
FINALLY playing Witcher 2 (after playing Witcher 1 on my PC months back) and enjoying it. Of course the real goal is to get to Witcher 3 (which I have) since I've heard it rivals Skyrim in terms of open-world glory, but of course has a far superior story. Having listened to all the Witcher books on Audible, I will say that the game throws a lot of political nuances and characters the players way and I can see how someone unfamiliar with the Witcher series would be totally lost. Geralt's personal history (the importance of Ciri for instance) isn't fleshed out enough early on for someone unfamiliar with the series. Then again, I like how the series unfolds knowledge much in the way Geralt's memories unfold.
I badly want to play Red Dead Redemption 2, having loved the first one. It's a toss up between RDD 2 and Witcher 3 for me at this point. Not sure I could handle playing two such massive open-world games at the same time.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Nov 18, 2018 10:43:00 GMT -5
I can’t even say enough about RDR II. Talk about a revolution in open world games. When it’s all said and done, I’ll probably invest 30-40 hours just hunting and fishing. Studios like Bethesda better take their asses back to the drawing board. Rockstar has taken it to another level. I completely understand what you're saying, but I still adore Skyrim and always will (certainly the Special Edition that makes the game so much better with the best mods installed). Skyrim, unlike RDR and the Witcher is about creating your ideal character and choosing your own path, even ignoring the main story if you want. The critique (not invalid) is that Elder Scrolls has always went with a generic main story path and hasn't spend enough time developing gripping characters to interact with. The critique of games like RDR and Witcher is that while the writing is great, tighter and more focused, you're often railroaded, forced to play a pre-generated character (male in both cases which limits the appeal to female gamers) and are in some ways playing interactive movies given all the cut-scenes. None of this really bothers me, but I can see the pro's and con's of both approaches. |
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Post by Warmonger on Nov 18, 2018 14:09:49 GMT -5
I can’t even say enough about RDR II. Talk about a revolution in open world games. When it’s all said and done, I’ll probably invest 30-40 hours just hunting and fishing. Studios like Bethesda better take their asses back to the drawing board. Rockstar has taken it to another level. I completely understand what you're saying, but I still adore Skyrim and always will (certainly the Special Edition that makes the game so much better with the best mods installed). Skyrim, unlike RDR and the Witcher is about creating your ideal character and choosing your own path, even ignoring the main story if you want. The critique (not invalid) is that Elder Scrolls has always went with a generic main story path and hasn't spend enough time developing gripping characters to interact with. The critique of games like RDR and Witcher is that while the writing is great, tighter and more focused, you're often railroaded, forced to play a pre-generated character (male in both cases which limits the appeal to female gamers) and are in some ways playing interactive movies given all the cut-scenes. None of this really bothers me, but I can see the pro's and con's of both approaches. My problem with Bethesda is how their games are getting dumbed down more and more with each iteration. The actually role playing mechanics are becoming virtually nonexistent. This was painfully obvious in Fallout 4, which really just feels like an open world FPS. Morrowind is right up there in the conversation as my all-time favorite game (with RDR 2). The amount of things you could do in that game is still astonishing to me. And while I played the hell out of Skyrim and certainly enjoyed my time with it, it still can’t compare IMO. RDR 2 does things that I wouldn’t have expected in gaming for another decade. This is hands down the most realistic, “alive” feeling game world that I’ve ever inhabited. The attention to detail is just bonkers. I’ve never been a big fan of the GTA games in the past, but my hat is off to Rockstar with this one. I want to explore literally every little nook and cranny of this world. And while I get that people love to create their own character (I’m usually in the same boat), Rockstar gets around this in the Red Dead series by creating some of the greatest videogame protagonists in history. For as much as I loved John Marston in Red Dead Redemption, I love Arthur Morgan even more in Red Dead Redemption 2. From the game world, to the narrative, the random events, the activities like hunting and fishing, the fleshing out of all the characters in your gang...this is just gaming heaven. Especially if you’re a big western fan like myself. |
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Post by impulse on Nov 19, 2018 10:54:26 GMT -5
As someone who missed Morrowind the first time around, I really wish Bethesday would issue a remaster/remake that keeps the core mechanics and depth but with modern comforts in UI, look, etc. My first TES game was Oblivion, and I've played Skyrim and Fallout 3, NV and 4. I also lament the peeling away of RPG features, but man, it is hard to go back to Morrowind now. If they could find a way to make it feel approachable from a 2018 perspective without ruining what made it Morrowind, I at least would be all over it.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Dec 1, 2018 9:11:57 GMT -5
I completely understand what you're saying, but I still adore Skyrim and always will (certainly the Special Edition that makes the game so much better with the best mods installed). Skyrim, unlike RDR and the Witcher is about creating your ideal character and choosing your own path, even ignoring the main story if you want. The critique (not invalid) is that Elder Scrolls has always went with a generic main story path and hasn't spend enough time developing gripping characters to interact with. The critique of games like RDR and Witcher is that while the writing is great, tighter and more focused, you're often railroaded, forced to play a pre-generated character (male in both cases which limits the appeal to female gamers) and are in some ways playing interactive movies given all the cut-scenes. None of this really bothers me, but I can see the pro's and con's of both approaches. My problem with Bethesda is how their games are getting dumbed down more and more with each iteration. The actually role playing mechanics are becoming virtually nonexistent. This was painfully obvious in Fallout 4, which really just feels like an open world FPS. Morrowind is right up there in the conversation as my all-time favorite game (with RDR 2). The amount of things you could do in that game is still astonishing to me. And while I played the hell out of Skyrim and certainly enjoyed my time with it, it still can’t compare IMO. RDR 2 does things that I wouldn’t have expected in gaming for another decade. This is hands down the most realistic, “alive” feeling game world that I’ve ever inhabited. The attention to detail is just bonkers. I’ve never been a big fan of the GTA games in the past, but my hat is off to Rockstar with this one. I want to explore literally every little nook and cranny of this world. And while I get that people love to create their own character (I’m usually in the same boat), Rockstar gets around this in the Red Dead series by creating some of the greatest videogame protagonists in history. For as much as I loved John Marston in Red Dead Redemption, I love Arthur Morgan even more in Red Dead Redemption 2. From the game world, to the narrative, the random events, the activities like hunting and fishing, the fleshing out of all the characters in your gang...this is just gaming heaven. Especially if you’re a big western fan like myself. My girlfriend bought me RDR 2 for my upcoming birthday and I can't wait to play it. I just started Witcher 3 last week and I'm enthralled by it. I only really got into the Witcher universe within the last year after breaking down and buying all the audiobooks on Audible. After that, I felt I was armed with enough knowledge to fully enjoy the games. I'm also a little frightened given the Skyrim-like scope of it and the fact that the base game is 200+ hours if you do everything, but these are the games I like. I do it to myself.  I've always been impressed with Rockstar as a company. They're one of the few major developers that seems to put art above profit. I mean it's obvious they have a ton of talent creating these games, but the time they give themselves is just as important. I'm a big fan of westerns too. Even more so now that I'm in my 40's. I think it's part and parcel with my every growing interest in history in general. I love the classic Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, but I also love classic John Wayne. I recently bought the first six seasons of Bonanza on DVD (the quality "official" ones) and I'm slowly working my way through the set. My one weak area when it comes to westerns that I want to correct is western literature. I've never read a pure western novel, only short stories, weird westerns, etc. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 23, 2018 13:21:25 GMT -5
I've nearly finished Divinity Original Sin 2 recently, so time for a review, opinion and I guess a bit of a guide.
About the series
Divinity Original Sin 2 is developed by Larian Studios, a Belgian studio, and is already the sixth game in a series of fantasy RPG games made by this studio, though the games differ quit a bit playing style. The first two were Diablo-style hack&slash games with RPG elements, the next was a 3D action-adventure RPG, spin-off Dragon Commander was more of a strategy game and the two Original Sin games are both party-based RPGs (mostly resembling games like Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity, but with a more strategic combat due to its turned-based fighting system).
Plot
Plotwise the games are all set in the same universe but can be played seperately. The main characters in D:OS2 are new characters living thousands of years after D:OS1. The player character (more on that in character creation below) is one of a group of Sourcerers (note, the U is not a type), a group of people who can manipulate the primal magic energy known as Source. Source allows them to perform amazing physical and magical feats beyond those of normal fighters and mages, but Sourcerers are feared as many are powerhungry and manipulative, but also because the use of Source attracts murderous, extradimensional creatures known as Voidwoken. As a result of this, Sourcerors are the target of an inquisition type extermination and the main characters are arrested and taken on a ship to a prison colony. Durin the trip the main characters discover that each of them has been chosen by a god to restore his/her power as a Godwoken.
Character creation
I think the point where this games shines is in the wide variety of options given in the character creation system. On this other forum I'm a member, there is a big divide between RPG fans who like RPGS with a given character with limited customation, but a better written background and relationships (Cmdr. Shepard in Mass Effect, Hawke in Dragon Age 2, Geralt in the Witcher or basically most JRPG characters) and fans who like a blank character they can completely create from scratch (The Warden in Dragon Age 1, The Inquisitor in Dragon Age 3, the Bhaalspawn in Baldur's Gate, basically any pen&paper RPG). Divinity decides to give you both options, you can chose 1 of 6 precreated origins (the Red Prince (an exiled Prince of the lizardmen), Lohse (a bard possessed by a dark force), the Beast (a dwarven pirate), Ifan Ben-Medz (a disgraced soldier turned mercenary), Sebile (an escaped Elven slave looking for revenge) and Fane (an Undead looking for his disappeared people)) or create a custom character (chose from human/elf/dwarf or lizardmen and whether your character is alive or undead). The precreated characters have certain personal missions a custom character won't have. The characters you don't pick for your many character are also your main choice for party members (though here you have the choice as well to hire blank mercenaries that have no precreated backstory.)
After you pick an origin, you can pick a class. Unlike most RPGs, a class has little meaning in Divinity. It just gives you a set of starting skills and attributes, but each level you get points to put into attributes and abilities so you can put points in all skills and attributes regardless of your starting class. It helps to read a list of spells and abilities before you pick your attributes, because which spell/ability scales which attribute can be unintuitive (for instance the spells of the school of Polymorphy scale with Strength, not Intelligence).
You get the choice of a Talent (comparable to Feats in D&D, a special ability that gives a bonus or a weird ability. These range from boring but functional (get a few extra skill points) to weird (the ability to automatically heal when you are standing in pools of blood). My favourite talent is Pet Pall, which allows you to talk to any of the many animals in the game, unlocking many quests otherwise unavailable.
The final gameplay influencing step (you get some cosmetic choices afterwards) are the Tags. Tags give you access to special dialogue options. If you chose any of the precreated origins, you can't pick tags, but are automatically given 5 tags connected to the character you picked. (For example, the Red Prince has the tags Male, Lizardman, Noble and Scholar plus a tag called "The Red Prince", which is usually used in the characters personal quests.) If you custom created your character you get 2 tags depending on your species, gender. A tag for Undead if you chose to play an undead and you are allowed to pick 2 other tags from a short list.
Combat
Combat is turned based, with position and elevation playing important roles. You can also interact with your environment during combat, using spells, special arrows and barrels to coat areas with oil, water, poison and so on. You can then use spells on these areas (using a lightning bolt against a group of enemies instead of a single one, because they are standing in the same pool of water). In turn enemies will use these same tricks against your party.
Overall
If you are a fan of the old school isometric RPGs, Divinity Original Sin 2 is a well-polished version of that. Original Sin 1 had certain rough edges, which 2 smoothed down a lot. Fights are a lot of fun with the use of terrain and spells to change that terrain. Puzzles are varied and often solved with the same spells that you have. Maps are large with many hidden quests and items.
Downsides: some of the puzzles can be very obtuse, needing information or keys that are hidden in completely different areas. With so many quests that have dependencies on each other, it's easy to miss or break them and outcomes are often not clear depending on your choices. Scripted events during combat can be very annoying with a large group of reinforcements that appear during fight, immediately getting their turn and completely overthrowing your strategy so far and often requiring you to take events into consideration that your character would have no way of knowing about (including villains that can teleport your characters into instant-death traps). So save often and be prepared to reload a lot, especially on higher difficulties.
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Post by impulse on Dec 26, 2018 10:04:49 GMT -5
Character creationI think the point where this games shines is in the wide variety of options given in the character creation system. On this other forum I'm a member, there is a big divide between RPG fans who like RPGS with a given character with limited customation, but a better written background and relationships (Cmdr. Shepard in Mass Effect, Hawke in Dragon Age 2, Geralt in the Witcher or basically most JRPG characters) and fans who like a blank character they can completely create from scratch (The Warden in Dragon Age 1, The Inquisitor in Dragon Age 3, the Bhaalspawn in Baldur's Gate, basically any pen&paper RPG). Divinity decides to give you both options, you can chose 1 of 6 precreated origins (the Red Prince (an exiled Prince of the lizardmen), Lohse (a bard possessed by a dark force), the Beast (a dwarven pirate), Ifan Ben-Medz (a disgraced soldier turned mercenary), Sebile (an escaped Elven slave looking for revenge) and Fane (an Undead looking for his disappeared people)) or create a custom character (chose from human/elf/dwarf or lizardmen and whether your character is alive or undead). The precreated characters have certain personal missions a custom character won't have. The characters you don't pick for your many character are also your main choice for party members (though here you have the choice as well to hire blank mercenaries that have no precreated backstory.) I've only played D:OS1 for a little but, but this part excites me. I found the character building option completely overwhelming when I first started and hoped for some good presets or even just dice roll randomizer. It's been a long time since I fired it up, so maybe it had all that and I just forgot, heh. I also had a hard time getting into it for whatever reason and haven't gone back to it, but your post has me interested in the sequel. It sounds like a modern Dragon Age Origins which is great because I LOVE that game. I will keep it in mind for down the road. Side note... I got some unexpected Amazon gift cards and money for myself for Christmas after the kids and everyone else were taken care of, so I was able to get basically all of the PS4 exclusives I wanted for my PS4 Pro. I got Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Detroit Become Human, Spider-Man (!!!!!!) and Uncharted 4. Super stoked to play them all, and I just don't know where to start. First world problems. |
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Post by impulse on Dec 27, 2018 13:06:37 GMT -5
I forgot to add I got Middle Earth: Shadow of War. Also, being the breadwinner and having two kids under five, I haven't had a chance to play a single one of them so far, ha.
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Post by impulse on Dec 28, 2018 9:45:44 GMT -5
Sorry to monopolize thread, but I just have more gaming updates than usual.
I fired up PS4 Spider-Man last night finally. I'd heard it was good, right? Everyone keeps going on about how great it is. I go into it thinking okay, I'm sure it's good, but it's just a video game. I've played so many kinds. I'm sure it's good, but how good could it really be?
Guys... it's really good. It's one of the best-looking games I've ever seen, the acting is great, it plays great, and it just feels like you're playing a Marvel movie. I only had a couple hours before I fell asleep, but I am really excited to play it again...sometime..when kids and wife are asleep and I have a little more wick to burn on the daily candle.
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bor
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Post by bor on Dec 28, 2018 12:13:57 GMT -5
Sorry to monopolize thread, but I just have more gaming updates than usual. I fired up PS4 Spider-Man last night finally. I'd heard it was good, right? Everyone keeps going on about how great it is. I go into it thinking okay, I'm sure it's good, but it's just a video game. I've played so many kinds. I'm sure it's good, but how good could it really be? Guys... it's really good. It's one of the best-looking games I've ever seen, the acting is great, it plays great, and it just feels like you're playing a Marvel movie. I only had a couple hours before I fell asleep, but I am really excited to play it again...sometime..when kids and wife are asleep and I have a little more wick to burn on the daily candle. It does sound great. Unfortunately I am not going to be playing it since I dont have a PS4 and am unlikely to buy one any time soon. I already have a x1 and a Switch so I feel like a third current game system would be too much.  I have mostly been playing a whole lot of Smash on the switch. Its such a fun time If you enjoy that sort of game. |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Dec 28, 2018 12:16:38 GMT -5
Sorry to monopolize thread, but I just have more gaming updates than usual. I fired up PS4 Spider-Man last night finally. I'd heard it was good, right? Everyone keeps going on about how great it is. I go into it thinking okay, I'm sure it's good, but it's just a video game. I've played so many kinds. I'm sure it's good, but how good could it really be? Guys... it's really good. It's one of the best-looking games I've ever seen, the acting is great, it plays great, and it just feels like you're playing a Marvel movie. I only had a couple hours before I fell asleep, but I am really excited to play it again...sometime..when kids and wife are asleep and I have a little more wick to burn on the daily candle. I haven't played it yet, but we do own it. My wife snagged a 1TB PS4 Spiderman bundle online for $200 that we bought for my oldest son for Christmas. So I will at some point, if I can stop playing Warframe. But my son is going on and on about how great it is. And he's played more Spiderman games than I have, so I have a feeling it as good as everyone says it is. It just better have Spidey 2099 and the symboite costume to unlock. :-) On the subject of Warframe however, I finally made a clan and started building a dojo. I have a few more rooms to build in it, but soon I will be able to do research and obtain things that before I might could only get from rare drops or buying with platinum (bought with real dollars). So this might help me with progressing further into the game without resorting to online play. Though I have watched my son play a few online matches and the community really seems great and work together to complete whatever the mission is. I just feel like my skills are that (from watching some of these amazingly skilled players) I just going to carried along through the mission and not be able to contribute much. |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Dec 28, 2018 12:26:56 GMT -5
Sorry to monopolize thread, but I just have more gaming updates than usual. I fired up PS4 Spider-Man last night finally. I'd heard it was good, right? Everyone keeps going on about how great it is. I go into it thinking okay, I'm sure it's good, but it's just a video game. I've played so many kinds. I'm sure it's good, but how good could it really be? Guys... it's really good. It's one of the best-looking games I've ever seen, the acting is great, it plays great, and it just feels like you're playing a Marvel movie. I only had a couple hours before I fell asleep, but I am really excited to play it again...sometime..when kids and wife are asleep and I have a little more wick to burn on the daily candle. It does sound great. Unfortunately I am not going to be playing it since I dont have a PS4 and am unlikely to buy one any time soon. I already have a x1 and a Switch so I feel like a third current game system would be too much. I have mostly been playing a whole lot of Smash on the switch. Its such a fun time If you enjoy that sort of game. My youngest son is really enjoying the heck out of Smash Ultimate. He's been playing it since Christmas morning and has unlocked a bunch of characters. Hopefully this four day weekend coming up I will get a chance to try both Spiderman and Smash Ultimate myself. |
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bor
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Post by bor on Dec 29, 2018 16:14:18 GMT -5
It does sound great. Unfortunately I am not going to be playing it since I dont have a PS4 and am unlikely to buy one any time soon. I already have a x1 and a Switch so I feel like a third current game system would be too much. I have mostly been playing a whole lot of Smash on the switch. Its such a fun time If you enjoy that sort of game. My youngest son is really enjoying the heck out of Smash Ultimate. He's been playing it since Christmas morning and has unlocked a bunch of characters. Hopefully this four day weekend coming up I will get a chance to try both Spiderman and Smash Ultimate myself. Smash is could as a multiplayer game because its easy to pickup and random enough for plenty of fun. Recently my girlfriend`s two nieces, 10 and 14, visited and we played that and Mario Cart all night with them. Its was really fun. |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Dec 30, 2018 13:20:54 GMT -5
My youngest son is really enjoying the heck out of Smash Ultimate. He's been playing it since Christmas morning and has unlocked a bunch of characters. Hopefully this four day weekend coming up I will get a chance to try both Spiderman and Smash Ultimate myself. Smash is could as a multiplayer game because its easy to pickup and random enough for plenty of fun. Recently my girlfriend`s two nieces, 10 and 14, visited and we played that and Mario Cart all night with them. Its was really fun. Sounds like a good time. I’m way more of a fan of Mario Kart than Smash Bros. I played some Smash Ultimate with my son last night and hopefully you have better skills and didn’t get your ass handed to you by your nieces like I did with my son. We did six matches and I won one. And I was surprise at that win lol |
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bor
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Post by bor on Dec 30, 2018 15:33:11 GMT -5
Smash is could as a multiplayer game because its easy to pickup and random enough for plenty of fun. Recently my girlfriend`s two nieces, 10 and 14, visited and we played that and Mario Cart all night with them. Its was really fun. Sounds like a good time. I’m way more of a fan of Mario Kart than Smash Bros. I played some Smash Ultimate with my son last night and hopefully you have better skills and didn’t get your ass handed to you by your nieces like I did with my son. We did six matches and I won one. And I was surprise at that win lol Heh I did okay. It really depends on whether or I know the character or not. However, with something like 70 characters that is just not often the case. |
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