ParadiseLost
Well-known member
My main complaint about that is it was a bit jarring jumping from something that felt like Ender's Game to Borderlands.
@Val the Moofia Boss
I liked your review of the Banner Saga and added it to my wishlist.
What are you playing currently?
- Thread starter Husky_Khan
- Start date
My main complaint about that is it was a bit jarring jumping from something that felt like Ender's Game to Borderlands.
@Val the Moofia Boss
I liked your review of the Banner Saga and added it to my wishlist.
UltimatePaladin
Well-known member
Been playing Metroid Prime: Trilogy on PrimeHack (a Dolphin emulator fork that was designed for this purpose.) I finished Prime 1 and 2, but 3 is giving me some issues on account of the motion controls.
After re-mapping, the controls to (mostly) standard FPS controls on a gamepad from the default Wiimote controls (and in defiance of the original GameCube controls,) I have to say that it was a fun experience and a reminder of simpler times.
Something that threw me off and that I had to relearn was that spamming the trigger wasn't the best way to deal damage - as a Metroid game, taking the time to charge up your weapons got you better results. This, honestly, was a fun way the game stood out from more traditional first-person games in the genre.
Much of my good times with the games was when they were like that, actually. Understanding that they were both a Metroid Game and an FPS: a hybrid of the two, taking and mixing elements from both.
When I first started playing the trilogy again, complaints about backtracking in other games were fresh in my mind. Playing through the games again made me realize that the Prime games managed to get it right. You would often be moving back through areas you've already been in, but when you did, it would be with new equipment that let you solve problems differently than the first time you went through. Or it would tease you with things you couldn't do yet but might be able to in the future.
For example, there was an area in the game that would normally require you to platform through a bunch of monsters and crumbling obstacles the first time through, coupled with a section where you'd have to crawl under some plating to get to the other side of a high wall. Later on, I got some abilities that just let me use grapple points to just swing through areas I'd have to slog through, and a double-jump that let me leap over the high wall.
They even went the extra mile and changed enemy spawns when you returned to certain locations: these weren't random or anything (or I don't think so at least,) but playing through the game normally, it was appreciated and helped the areas from feeling too stale.
Though, I still had some complaints about the game a few years later, after the nostalgia goggles wore off. One was that the games sometimes forgot they were a Metroid-FPS hybrid. Sometimes it included abilities and weapons from the 2D Sidescrollers that worked great there, and not so much in 3D. Prime was good about remembering that, but Prime 2 had some points where it tried to cram those in, and it made some enemy encounters very much unfun.
In addition, there were some points where the progression was a bit unclear. Normally, most of the things you needed to progress a section were in that section, which fed logically into one another. Then once you were done, you'd leave, continuing onto the next, or going back to older sections with your new toys to see what you could do now. However, there were times in the games where you'd have to stop what you were doing in one section, go back to a previous section, get something to progress, and then go back to where you once were and start over.
The game does have a setting where if you don't know where to go next, you can toggle it so you'll get an automated message telling you where you need to go. Though, it seems a bit of a clunky solution to me, and one that could have been fixed with some better design.
Outside the game, emulation itself gave me a couple of problems. Nothing game-breaking, just annoying. Like my crosshairs would always end up listing one way or the other at all times, or when I selected one of the games in the trilogy, I would see a purple screen flash briefly. The game would also start to lag heavily when I brought up a map with a lot of stuff on it, or occasionally otherwise. Didn't stick around - like I said, more annoying than anything.
Though, even with all that in mind, I'm enjoying my time with the game, which has aged gracefully.
After re-mapping, the controls to (mostly) standard FPS controls on a gamepad from the default Wiimote controls (and in defiance of the original GameCube controls,) I have to say that it was a fun experience and a reminder of simpler times.
Something that threw me off and that I had to relearn was that spamming the trigger wasn't the best way to deal damage - as a Metroid game, taking the time to charge up your weapons got you better results. This, honestly, was a fun way the game stood out from more traditional first-person games in the genre.
Much of my good times with the games was when they were like that, actually. Understanding that they were both a Metroid Game and an FPS: a hybrid of the two, taking and mixing elements from both.
When I first started playing the trilogy again, complaints about backtracking in other games were fresh in my mind. Playing through the games again made me realize that the Prime games managed to get it right. You would often be moving back through areas you've already been in, but when you did, it would be with new equipment that let you solve problems differently than the first time you went through. Or it would tease you with things you couldn't do yet but might be able to in the future.
For example, there was an area in the game that would normally require you to platform through a bunch of monsters and crumbling obstacles the first time through, coupled with a section where you'd have to crawl under some plating to get to the other side of a high wall. Later on, I got some abilities that just let me use grapple points to just swing through areas I'd have to slog through, and a double-jump that let me leap over the high wall.
They even went the extra mile and changed enemy spawns when you returned to certain locations: these weren't random or anything (or I don't think so at least,) but playing through the game normally, it was appreciated and helped the areas from feeling too stale.
Though, I still had some complaints about the game a few years later, after the nostalgia goggles wore off. One was that the games sometimes forgot they were a Metroid-FPS hybrid. Sometimes it included abilities and weapons from the 2D Sidescrollers that worked great there, and not so much in 3D. Prime was good about remembering that, but Prime 2 had some points where it tried to cram those in, and it made some enemy encounters very much unfun.
In addition, there were some points where the progression was a bit unclear. Normally, most of the things you needed to progress a section were in that section, which fed logically into one another. Then once you were done, you'd leave, continuing onto the next, or going back to older sections with your new toys to see what you could do now. However, there were times in the games where you'd have to stop what you were doing in one section, go back to a previous section, get something to progress, and then go back to where you once were and start over.
The game does have a setting where if you don't know where to go next, you can toggle it so you'll get an automated message telling you where you need to go. Though, it seems a bit of a clunky solution to me, and one that could have been fixed with some better design.
Outside the game, emulation itself gave me a couple of problems. Nothing game-breaking, just annoying. Like my crosshairs would always end up listing one way or the other at all times, or when I selected one of the games in the trilogy, I would see a purple screen flash briefly. The game would also start to lag heavily when I brought up a map with a lot of stuff on it, or occasionally otherwise. Didn't stick around - like I said, more annoying than anything.
Though, even with all that in mind, I'm enjoying my time with the game, which has aged gracefully.
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
@ParadiseLost
A few tips for The Banner Saga:
A few tips for The Banner Saga:
- The average difficulty of battles (on normal) can be harder than your usual SRPG/TRPG, and you will probably lose a few battles, but that's okay because you don't have to win every fight to progress through the game. IIRC you can lose most battles and the story still continues. There are only a handful of battles where you HAVE to win or else you get a game over and have to reload until you win to continue.
- You don't need to level up every character. At the start of TBS2 and TBS3, any underleveled characters from the prior games are given a few points for you to invest in them, so they don't fall too far behind.
- The game alternates between one of your units getting a turn, and an enemy unit getting a turn. Therefore, you can make battles a little easier by bringing along fewer units than the maximum number of 6. 4 is a good number, as that means your four characters get a lot more turns compared to the enemy characters.
- Continuing with the above, you can try to make battles easier by reducing an enemy unit's strength (which is their damage and HP stat) as low as possible, but trying to avoid killing them. That way, the weakened enemy unit takes up enemy turns but is relatively harmless, effectively giving your team more turns.
Oh, do save files transfer from one game to the next?
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
Nice. It's rare in games, from my impression, that they take data from previous games and transfer that to sequels and/or prequels.
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
I think this is the only RPG series I've seen where your inventory from the first game actually carries over to the sequels. Also rather nice that there isn't ridiculous powercreep in the sequels so your stuff from earlier games isn't completely irrelevant. For the final battles of TBS3, I was still using +3 strength gloves I had acquired in TBS1. And that box that gives +1 willpower per turn remained invaluable for support characters.
That's true. The prologue section starts out relatively hard sci-fi with the Outriders acting as the first-down recon for the colony landing, and then becomes something *much* more fantastic once the superpowers element starts manifesting.
Aaron Fox
Well-known member
Guess what's happening (and what I've been adding a few hours on).
Yep, Surviving Mars is getting more content, now with one of the legends of the Surviving Mars modding community as one of the staff (SILVA, known for his various mods that add new buildings like the modular apartment, advanced fuel refineries, and automated factories). First up, new internal buildings!
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
That's good news for the game. Surviving Mars is a lot of fun but I have found that because some buildings are just flat-out greatly superior to others, and all the buildings tend to be one of two sizes, your layout gets pretty samey after your first few false starts once you know which ones do the heavy lifting.
Aaron Fox
Well-known member
While SILVA isn't going to make his mods 'canon' (so to speak), he's going to keep the mods available and be part of the dev team with new content. From the store page, we're getting at least:
Habitats for Humanity
◾Smart Apartments (Habitats, Large)
◾Seniors Residence (Habitats, Medium)
◾Large Nursery (Habitats, Large)
Dome Sweet Dome
◾Medical Post (Dome Services, Small)
◾Security Post (Dome Services, Small)
◾Hospital (Dome Services, Large)
◾TV Studio Workshop (Dome Services, Large)
◾School Spire (Dome Spires, Spire)
These would be very welcome additions to the game, especially the small and large services (that and we're not going to have to use a spire slot to have a large-volume medical station anymore!). I wouldn't be surprised if there will be more on the way.
almostinsane
Well-known member
I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3. It's relatively good for early access. They could work on the classes a bit more. Wizards feel very nerfed while thieves and druids feel oped, but that could be due to the low levels.
The story is rather interesting and, thankfully, no politics and social issues have been shoved in. Goblins are funny, but they are evil. Your character has the option to call out a companion who hates them all as racist, but that's just an option. And all in-game evidence makes that accusation hollow.
The story is rather interesting and, thankfully, no politics and social issues have been shoved in. Goblins are funny, but they are evil. Your character has the option to call out a companion who hates them all as racist, but that's just an option. And all in-game evidence makes that accusation hollow.
Doomsought
Well-known member
Warframe came out with a pretty big update for its rail-jack content, and it is a huge improvement. I've done some rounds of it both multiplayer and solo, and the balance is so much better than it was before. However I got some matchmaking bugs when I went back to multiplayer from solo.
ParadiseLost
Well-known member
Just dropped $60 on Red Dead Redemption 2 Ultimate Edition.
Now to find the time to play it...
Now to find the time to play it...
ParadiseLost
Well-known member
Played almost ~8 hours of RDR 2 so far.
Its lots of fun.
Its lots of fun.
Shadepen97
Well-known member
Pathfinder Kingmaker with a bunch of mods to add extra classes and feats. I accidentally put the gnome bard on house arrest, exiled the half-elf wizard lady and her half-orc magus boy toy, got cursed with bootleg-lichdom in character creation and now a third of my party is undead while everyone else is some manner of divine caster with the exception of the one barbarian. I may or may not also be mentally manipulated into being the hitman of both a Fey Lady and a intelligent zombie. I am having a blast.
EDIT: To clarify on the "Bootleg-Lichdom" bit is that I am an Oracle with the "Curse Of The Lich" and the "Revelation Of Bone". The fluff of the "Curse Of The Lich" is that I accidentally and unknowingly pulled off an almost complete ritual for personal lichdom but failed at the last step which mechanically translates to all normal methods of healing (other than resting) deals damage, and all standard negative energy spells like "Inflict wounds", "Harm", and "Slay Living" are now my only sources of healing. I get no other benefits until I survive all the way to level seven, which means I get the chance to have half the bonus saving throws of being a skeleton, or level fifteen where I gain absolute immunity to all instant death effects. Now the fun part comes when that Curse is combined with the Revelation of Bone, where I get some of the best arcane and Divine Necromancy spells added to my spells per day, such as Animate Dead, Create Undead, Horrid Wilting (For your anti-plant and anti-water needs), Slay Living, Circle of Death, and Wail of the Banshee. The Capstone of this combo is a better version of Power Word Kill (once a day only) and Animate Dead loses its material cost.
EDIT: To clarify on the "Bootleg-Lichdom" bit is that I am an Oracle with the "Curse Of The Lich" and the "Revelation Of Bone". The fluff of the "Curse Of The Lich" is that I accidentally and unknowingly pulled off an almost complete ritual for personal lichdom but failed at the last step which mechanically translates to all normal methods of healing (other than resting) deals damage, and all standard negative energy spells like "Inflict wounds", "Harm", and "Slay Living" are now my only sources of healing. I get no other benefits until I survive all the way to level seven, which means I get the chance to have half the bonus saving throws of being a skeleton, or level fifteen where I gain absolute immunity to all instant death effects. Now the fun part comes when that Curse is combined with the Revelation of Bone, where I get some of the best arcane and Divine Necromancy spells added to my spells per day, such as Animate Dead, Create Undead, Horrid Wilting (For your anti-plant and anti-water needs), Slay Living, Circle of Death, and Wail of the Banshee. The Capstone of this combo is a better version of Power Word Kill (once a day only) and Animate Dead loses its material cost.
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TyrantTriumphant
Well-known member
I've been playing Greedfall again. It's not a triple A game and it shows, but it's still very fun. It's not for everyone though and I would recommend watching a few videos of it before purchasing.
ParadiseLost
Well-known member
How good is the story and writing? I can forgive a lot if its good.
TyrantTriumphant
Well-known member
I think the writing is pretty good and the story is excellent. But that's just my personal opinion. Others may feel otherwise.