Hangout The Games Hangout Thread

[Spirit]

I'm just happy to see people discussing Bloodlines. Even as flawed as it was it still managed to be one of the more fun Vampire games out there.

One of my dreams is to see a big RPG dev like Bethesda take on that kind of game.

Yeah I'll admit I did have fun with it. It wasn't until I looked back and reminisced on it that I picked up on the not so good side of it all

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 21, 2017, Original Post Date: Feb 21, 2017 ---

Spoiler

Yeppers. He was cursed by someone who took over his empire until he was cured. IIRC, his curse is based on fairytale with a similar scenario.

I need to get around to reading the books. Sounds like the best way to fully flesh out the story.

 

[z.5]

Yeah I'll admit I did have fun with it. It wasn't until I looked back and reminisced on it that I picked up on the not so good side of it all

Aye, it is a superbly written game. It's a pity that it can be so very janky...
A new Bloodlines RPG would be an insta-buy for me - as long as I could justify all the free time it would take to play.

I need to get around to reading the books. Sounds like the best way to fully flesh out the story.

Aye, not only do they explain the game events in more detail, but they aren't that bad either.

I just wish that the Lady of the Lake (and others) would be released in English - my Polish just isn't quite there...

 

[riki]

I need to get around to reading the books. Sounds like the best way to fully flesh out the story.

You should. They're pretty good.

Aye, not only do they explain the game events in more detail, but they aren't that bad either.

I just wish that the Lady of the Lake (and others) would be released in English - my Polish just isn't quite there...

They don't have the English versions where you live? I know that the English version of Lady of the Lake will be out next month according to Amazon.

 

[z.5]

They don't have the English versions where you live? I know that the English version of Lady of the Lake will be out next month according to Amazon.

Sure, but 'next month' isn't now... and now is when I want it!


I need to find another fantasy RPG to play, Pillars was awesome, but it was enough isometric for the moment - maybe I will be interested again when Pillars 2 comes out

 

[Jammin]

Sure, but 'next month' isn't now... and now is when I want it!


I need to find another fantasy RPG to play, Pillars was awesome, but it was enough isometric for the moment - maybe I will be interested again when Pillars 2 comes out

It's not fantasy but Mass Effect will be out soon. I can't wait for that.

I want to believe that Bioware won't F things up again. If they do get it right that should be a great RPG space opera to look forward to in a months time.

 

[kkck]

Well, the switch seems to be out... anyone got it yet? Reception seems surprisingly warmer than I expected. Cnet's review seems to conclude that you should get it if you want to play breath of the wild but otherwise wait it out... Which I would personally take as a grim review regardless of how positively cnet spins this... In any case, at this point I get the impression that the switch's future depends entirely on nintendo's ability to consistently produce breath of the wild quality games.

 

[Jammin]

Well, the switch seems to be out... anyone got it yet? Reception seems surprisingly warmer than I expected. Cnet's review seems to conclude that you should get it if you want to play breath of the wild but otherwise wait it out... Which I would personally take as a grim review regardless of how positively cnet spins this... In any case, at this point I get the impression that the switch's future depends entirely on nintendo's ability to consistently produce breath of the wild quality games.

IGN's Vince Igenito, my personal most trusted videogame reviewer, had a much more negative take. He gave it a tentative 6.7 (Tenative because the Online stuff wasn't available yet)

Some things he brought up were.

- Looks and feels great.
- Severely underpowered as a console. Apparently Zelda runs well below 30 fps and particle effects take it even lower than that. And that's without any form of anti-aliasing.
- Storage space is far too small (20 gigs after deducting system software size) without an separately bought SD card.
- Syncing issues with the controllers in wireless mode due to how your hands can interfere with the weak signal.
- Performs better as a handheld but hamstrung by the battery life which limits it greatly.

 

[Riku]

Well, been a happy Switch owner for 12 hours now, and

-Looks and feels amazing
-The switching really works well (release buttons and rails were pretty stiff at first though, also my tv is slow, as I take it off the dock it goes to 'no signal 'mode and thus takes a moment to refind it when placed back)
-It is not a PS4 Pro, but the hell, it fits your pocket, PS4 doesn't.
-I can't see the supposed frame drop, maybe I have bad eyes
-No issues with the JoyCon signal for now
-The upscaling isn't perfect. Looks a bit better on handheld. But the difference ain't huge
-The battetion life feels sufficient. I think it compares to competition (3DS, Vita, high end phones and tablet devices)
-Yeah, the storage is too little. The Sd cards highly needed, stacking up the start up prize even higher
- Zelda is absolutely amazing

 

[xi0]

Who here has played Dishonored 2? Am I the only one who felt bogged down by the story? The villain and whole backstory was so incredibly banal and stupid...

I was a huge fan of the first game too.

 

[kkck]

Well, BOTW aside, what do you guys think about the switch?

 

[Spirit]

It's underpowered and stocked up with a library full of shitty ports.

 

[Riku]

It impressive for what is essentially a tablet. I think people had too high hopes hardware wise, and got dissapointed. It doesn't compare to PS4 or Xbox in that sector, but I don't think it is as bad as people make it sound. The RAM could be an issue, but it seems this far, that the UI software is a lot lighter than in PS/Xbox, so it doesn't fall that much behind.

There are already interesting titles in the e-shop, many of them ports but I don't know if they are good or bad ports since I haven't played any. I want Snipperclippers and Fast RMX next.

But yeah, if your fingers aren't burning for Zelda, or you don't need the portability it might be better to wait out a bit and see what comes of the future games before buying. I love my Switch, but I'm considering if I could also afford PS4 for more hardware heavy gaming.

 

[kkck]

So I saw that Nier automata game square enix released (or is about to release). Any thoughts? It looks fairly fun, though it has a 2000's feel to it. Any thoughts? Is the game worth it?

 

[Jammin]

I've heard good things too. Wide variety of gameplay. Good art and music. Story is supposedly good too. Haven't actually played it though and probably won't anytime soon.

We're kind of spoiled for choice with good games right now. You expect one good game to be out at a time but we've got so many. Especially PS4 games. Horizon Zero Dawn is supposedly great. I've heard great things about Nioh. With Neir Automata is getting 9/10 ratings there are just so much great stuff out there with no end in sight.

I haven't played Tales of Berseria or Gravity Rush 2 either and those are both supposed to be really good. It is just a never ending stream of good games.

Mass Effect Andromeda comes out in a little over a week. Persona 5 comes out two weeks after that.

It's possible Mass Effect could be bad but even the worst Bioware game is usually still very enjoyable. And everything I've heard about Persona 5 suggests it's more or less a masterpiece.

 

[Sky]

As expected of Persona. In Atlus we trust.

Regarding Berseria, I am almost done with the story and it is a really good Tales game. Magilou.

Just wondering, Gravity Rush was a pain on the Vita. How does the PS4 version handle the gravity control?

 

[Jammin]

As expected of Persona. In Atlus we trust.

Hard to believe the last game from the Persona team was Catherine. Persona 4, Catherine, and now Persona 5. Just going from one great game to the next apparently.

Regarding Berseria, I am almost done with the story and it is a really good Tales game. Magilou.

Literally everyone I know whose played it has said the same thing. It's going to be a great summer RPG for me. After the avalanche of games slows down a bit.

Just wondering, Gravity Rush was a pain on the Vita. How does the PS4 version handle the gravity control?

I don't know. I haven't actually played it either but I heard it's basically a more open and larger Gravity Rush with more features and refined controls.

---------------------------------------------

Next up on the agenda for me is Mass Effect Andromeda on PC.

EA access has one of their classic unsavory promotions to play up to 10 hours of the singleplayer game early if your a member of EA access. Normally they could go F themselves with that kind thing. But EA Access is priced $5 dollars a month and comes with a 10% rebate on the purchase of EA games. So that means, if you are sure your buying Mass Effect Andromeda, that rebate ends up being more than the cost of a month of EA Access. So it all evens out as long as your willing to compromise your sense of personal morality and go along EA's insidious ways...which I am.

So I'll be playing that on Friday. Review embargo is the 20th so I'm going in blind, even though I should really know better. Hope it doesn't suck.

 

[Sky]

I won't play ME A till my gaming vacation starts on the 28th, so I need to stay away from the internet eh?

 

[Jammin]

I won't play ME A till my gaming vacation starts on the 28th, so I need to stay away from the internet eh?

That seems wise to me on several levels.

Not the least of which being the fact that, given Bioware's very checkered past, it will be buggy as hell on release. That's just how they roll. I'll never forget playing Dragon Age Inquistion where at a certain point it would go to one of those little conversation sequences and my character would say something then it would cut to the person he was supposed to be talking to and there was nobody there. You were just stuck there forever.

This is that same engine, Frostbite, so I'm sure it's going to be a hot mess too.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 16, 2017, Original Post Date: Mar 14, 2017 ---

I've played a couple hours of Mass Effect Andromeda now and I'm starting to feel like Bioware's going to take another black eye from this one. To be clear, I don't dislike what I've played but it's got some problems. If what I've played is indicative of the whole game it's going to be like a 7/10. Fun if your willing to overlook quite a few flaws.

The worst bit is the animations. They are just not good. Worse than the original trilogy and DA:I(which were pretty bad). Not only does it not compare to the Witcher 3, it doesn't compare to the Witcher 2. It's that rough.

The writing, characters, and voice acting is also more of mixed bag than I'm used to seeing in a Bioware game as well. Also characters heads are oddly too big for thier bodies. Not sure what that's about.

Have to wait and see how that shakes out because if what I've seen so far is what this whole game is... that is not going to go over well with their hardcore fans.

 

[SonOfDaws]

Is it too early to declare a GOTY?

 

[Jammin]

Now that I've completed the portion available in EA Access I really feel like we're going to have to wait for the review embargo to lift in order to know much about how good or bad the game really is.

The animations are very bad. I don't see that improving as the game goes on and I doubt they can fix much of it either at this point. They could fix some individual ones and add and more reflectivity to the eyes in order to make some characters look a little more alive but other than that, I'm just not sure what they can practical do to fix that. Enable helmets at all times I guess.

But the rest actually seemed like it was getting better as I progressed. The Tempest is a really cool ship and the lighting effects are amazing(at least on PC). Didn't have noticeable bug issues either(not counting animations). The first 2 hours is bad. The following 2 hours is better. And I do want to play more when it unlocks next week. So I must not hate it.

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I wonder a bit how much the animation problems is are rooted in the decision to go with a deformed skeleton for the Human and Asari characters?

Like when compared to the original character models peoples heads are larger and more varied in shape and their bodies are smaller with shorter legs.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 17, 2017, Original Post Date: Mar 17, 2017 ---

We may know sooner after all. Bioware is supposedly moving up the review embargo date to tomorrow in response to all this.