Videogame Discussion Thread

Currently (finally) playing Star Wars KOTOR 2. Game was a Steam gift from a friend, just never got around to playing it until recently due to time etc. Graphics are definitely dated, but I'm having fun so far. Still in the first couple hours though )

 

KOTOR2 is brilliant. One of the deepest Star Wars stories told. Make sure you use the content restoration mod!

 

I might have forgotten to do that, haha. That'd certainly make for a better experience methinks, though I don't think some aesthetic mods would go amiss either...

The only other Star Wars PC game I've ever played was Jedi Academy years ago, and this brings back fond memories of that (Google search says KOTOR 2 is the newer game, but the difference is negligible considering both are fairly dated, IMO ).

 

Wait up, @Lyer25. You didn’t play KOTOR1? Go do that first. The main plot of 2 makes more sense if you have the context, as do the characters. 1 is an excellent game, and it even plays nicely on iPads (maybe Android tablets too, don’t know for sure).

KOTOR1 is pretty classic Star Wars in terms of plot and storytelling and makes a nice romp. Very entertaining. KOTOR2 is much more philosophical and darker — a more thinking title but absolutely builds on 1. Both play well as light or dark side characters.

2 without the content mod has a destroyed ending. The dev house had to finish the title in <12 months to hit a dumb deadline and cut the last 20% of the game on release.

 

One good thing about KOTOR is the vast array of mods work on Android as well, so updated textures and models all work, and they are absolutely a must have for me. I'm not a huge graphics snob, I really enjoy older games with pixel graphics and sprites, but the early, low-poly 3D stuff (like this game and FF7, etc.) looks so bad it just kills immersion for me.

 

Ive been playing Fallout 76, Ive never played a fallout game before so I had no expectations for 76 aside from what they said at the announcement and the trailers. I have a friend thats really into the series, he was excited about it, I generally prefer multiplayer games and we all like to mess around in various survival games base building and exploring or whatnot so with the custom servers 76 seemed to be a no brainer.

So after saying all of that, no expectations, I do like the game, sure it has it flaws but many of them can be fixed with patches. I like the collection and exploration aspect, the crafting is fun I suppose but right now at least it feels a bit limited..but Im only level 22. It is fun playing with friends.

what I don't like:
the enemies may be a bit repetitive, but Im not sure this is any worse than any other game honestly..I also haven't been to nearly the whole map either. so grain of salt but I've seen it come up about the game a few times and from where I am it feels true.

The PVP in a word sucks....seriously its complete shit and I think something about it may even be broken. The slap mechanic is annoying and there isn't really any good reason to even engage...you get nothing for it, so unless you are just into straight up griefing people for no reason its pretty pointless...and honestly I think most people feel that way too because I hardly get hassled by other players on servers.

The 400 lb stash limit is really frustrating, I had my stash filled after 10 hours of the beta. Its a constant struggle managing it..its not fun..at all. Some of this could also be attributed to me being new and not knowing what is worth keep and what isn't, but still, spending hour upon hours sometimes to constantly combines bulk and sell stuff or having to blow up higher level gear because you can't use it yet but you don't have room to keep it because its too heavy is an overall frustrating experience.

This shoudl be getting ficed in the december 4th patch though, but I don't believe any of us have been told exactly how they will be fixing it. So its possible it could be completely resolved after dec 4th or just suck a little but less that it did before...we will see.

so all in all there are definitely issues....but I really hope that Bethesda puts in the effort to really fix the game because if they do it could really be great. Otherwise we are probably looking at something like The Division which was a fantastic concept but massively failed in execution and never recovered really.

 

Is anybody playing Destiny 2 on PC?

I'd love to have some friends to play with.

 

Anyone planning on playing the next Path of Exile league?

Sending you a pm.

 

@gepardcv One thing my gamer friends usually hate me for is that I watch people play games on YouTube a lot*, or read wikis without playing. The thing is I don't play games nearly as often as I used to, but I still love the stories behind em; read up on KOTOR lore ages ago and refreshed myself recently before jumping into 2, and I think I'm fine with that.

*mostly horror games. I... don't do horror games very well, though I love scary movies.

 

I've been playing a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 lately. While it is very tropey JRPG/anime it is also pretty well done. After getting past how slow the combat is at the beginning of the game things pick up a lot. About 30 hours in currently. As far as I know it should take me another 50-70 hours including the DLC story. I don't see me getting tired of it in that time. The OST is awesome too.

This is a big contrast from when I first got the game. When it came out I bought it and played for around 8-10 hours and never got into it. Combat felt slow, and I wasn't into how cliche the characters and story were. Not sure why as it's pretty much the same for most JRPGs. Just wasn't feeling it at the time.

Outside of that I've been enjoying League of Legends. I know I'm years late to getting into it. Can be fun to play a few games once in a while. I suck horribly at all aspects of League. Some people are rather toxic, but it doesn't really take away from my enjoyment.

 

I must admit I bought Origin Access to try out BFV. I had my doubts about the game so I figured 15 bucks to give it a try was worth it, but I've been playing it and its fun.

The guns feel completely different from BF1. They are no longer random, it no longer feels like getting a kill is mostly luck. They feel closer the the BF4 guns. That was the basic gripe I have about BF1 was the bad gunplay.

The game definitely needs work, it definitely has bugs and needs some balance passes. The specializations try to tune your gun is very limited and isnt very good IMO.

With all that said though there's a good, maybe great game under all of that. A balance patch or 2 and we are in the good. A few more patches and a DLC or two and this could be a really great game.

 

I've started to dabble, PM me for info.

 

Booted up cities skylines yesterday, with all the expansions and a few choice mods.

When I came up for air it was 9hrs later so I guess I still like it.

 

I've been playing Horizon Zero Dawn for the past 4 weeks and that game really amazes me, has excellent graphics and the sound design is actually top notch with deep resonating, menacing animal voices, shrill robotic sounds, bleeps, wind, rain, storm, thunder from far etc. Sometimes very complex and layered, not sure how to describe it. They put a lot of effort in the way this world sounds and breathes with sound. Unfortunately the 3D Audio mode is only available for PS Headsets or via the "workaround" of connecting your headphones to the headphone output of the PSVR (no need to wear it).

Anyway, what I like about Horizon Zero Dawn is the design of the open world, the way valleys, rivers, deserts, mountains envelop and are carved into the planet and how you traverse all that, climb up to dangerous very high paths with a bit of stupid frequent jumping and still find items, stuff or background lore or find nothing at all but actual solitude. Like TES worlds this game gives the rare feeling of being able to relax and breathe out far away from the dangers and horrors of the main world and gaze upon the beauty of that world.

The melee is nothing to write home about, similary simple to the Witcher, even less. However all the other weapons, their modes, ammunition and upgrades extend it way beyond AC, Witcher etc.

Setting up traps, bombs, hunting herds towards them, picking up guardians, sabres etc.. There is a lot of freedom about how you hunt, escape, distract or convert/manipulate your environment and machines.

GG really nailed it with this game. Next zo KZ2 this is the best they ever did.

 

Yeah it was good. Hunting was fun for me too. It was tough in the beginning but you get the hang of it after a while.

 

Anyone else hyped for Smash Ultimate? I know I am! Friday can't come soon enough.

 

I loved HZD as well. Honestly the only negative I can really note is that I recall some weird stuff happening during the close up motion captured story parts. It's been so long that I can't remember exactly what, but things looked 'off' for a second or two here and there at times. Minor gripe. Looking forward to the eventual sequel.

 

HZD was really quite good. I also enjoyed the new God of War game for PS4- some of the boss fights in that game were just awesome. Later in the game there are Valkyrie fights which can be quite challenging.

 

Anyone else played Diablo 3? Got it for the switch recently. Man, it is such a non-game. It’s practically a friggin’ clicker.

Loved the first two way back when, big disappointment. Craptacular narrative, unimiginative art style, cookie cutter procedural level design, and zero challenge. I set it to Master pretty quickly, and different levels of Torment later. But they go from a hot knife through butter, to a massive grind, to impossible. Playing other classes hasn’t changed the overall experience.

 

Diablo 3 is significantly different now than when it first came out, pre reaper of souls. It used to be slow and grindy and you would be lucky to find more than one legendary on your grind to 60. The story was more enjoyable when the game was slower paced. Unfortunately gearing was a bitch and the real money auction house made the endgame terrible.

Now the game revolves around speed farming torment 13 for materials and legendaries, then pushing greater rift leaderboards. Pushing greater rifts can be challenging but that's endgame. It's not really made for slow single player story narrative.

They changed the game slightly for consoles so it's not as good IMO. I played d3 for 1000+ hours on pc since launch, and I can't imagine many of the more complicated mechanics working well with a controller.