qolelis on 17/6/2024 at 10:33
I just got started on the new TP2 DLC, Road to Elysium. Eight puzzles solved so far. It's good with a few new takes on old mechanics and some nice Easter eggs for the explorer. Also nice to get talking to my fellow comrades again. Not much to complain about really. It's more of the same, but in a smaller format and supposedly harder, although it starts out gently just like in the main game.
Renault on 22/6/2024 at 20:30
I played through several hours of Still Wakes The Deep on gamepass. Pretty disappointing, it's probably the most linear game I've ever played. There is literally one path through ever area, kind of waste considering the setting of a collapsing oil rig could have been a really cool thing to explore and navigate. It's funny that they have detailed maps of all the areas of the rig spread throughout the game, but they're completely unnecessary because there's only one way you can even go. It's also just a really simplistic game, with hardly any decisions to be made about anything except "move forward." The game asked me at the beginning if I wanted to disable the hints system, which made me think there were some complex puzzles coming. Completely the opposite. It's your typically boring "turn this valve" or "flip this lever" type of stuff, and the solution to each thing that blocks your path is never more than a few feet away. There's also several QTE type scenarios where if you don't respond with a specific button press, you die. I thought we left this type of lame gaming behind us.
Also, it's supposed to be a horror game, and it did kind of remind me of Soma in parts, but it's really nothing new at all that you haven't seen a hundred times already, especially if you've played Frictional's games before. And I don't recall ever being particularly frightened by anything. The scariest thing is probably the thick Scottish accents of the NPCs, which is you didn't have subtitles on you wouldn't be able to understand a word they were saying. Seems like a bad choice considering the game and setting have absolutely nothing to do with Scotland.
Anyway, it's supposed to only be 4-6 hours, so I'll likely finish it, but let's just say I'm glad I didn't shell out 30 bucks for this thing. I guess my expectations shouldn't have been so high considering this was developed by The Chinese Room.
Thirith on 24/6/2024 at 10:03
It looks like the arcade racers that came out towards the end of the C64's lifecycle, the ones that came out two or three years after Outrun. Obviously better tech, but the same look and feel.
Malf on 24/6/2024 at 12:30
Realising that I'd put it down right before the end, I went back and finished the main story of Ghost of Tsushima last night.
It was fine.
As is the case for a lot of Ubi-formula open world games, there was too little variety in the activities to justify its size, but it was fun enough.
Not sure I can muster the enthusiasm to play the DLC.
Speaking of DLC, I've also just started on the Outer Worlds DLC episode "Peril on Gorgon". Not much to comment on so far, although the set-up is pretty cool. The problem for The Outer Worlds is that the late-game combat is trivial, even on the hardest difficulty, and not really very interesting.
For instance, this time through, I've gone with a chatty scientist type so as to best play with the games' various "Science" weapons, and they unfortunately all botch their core fantasy to some extent.
As an example, the shrink ray and mind control ray require you to constantly fire at the enemy for the effect to work, and do damage at the same time, so the enemy inevitably dies somewhat anticlimactically from bog-standard gunfire.
Even so, even the hardest enemies in the game go down in a matter of seconds due to how overpowered my character and companions are, so the only gameplay that remains is exploration and dialogue. With exploration rarely rewarding you with something more than ammo or drugs, and the dialogue, while being funny, not being anywhere near as reactive or consequential as prior Obsidian titles, it can all feel a little underwhelming.
It still looks utterly fucking fantastic when compared to Starfield, mind you.
My experience with Ghost of Tsushima also made me remember that I left Jedi Survivor in a similarly unfinished state, late game with only a mission or two to go, so I might finish that off this week.
But it's Dwarf Fortress that is deservedly taking up most of my gaming time, and has been for a while now. My ongoing fortress is incredibly successful, and there's always ideas to explore and refinements to be made.
This fortress has plumbed the depths and conquered the caverns;
Weathered the assaults of necromancers and their armies;
Successfully exported excessive violence to said necromancers;
Had numerous citizens turn to necromancers after reading about the secrets of life and death in a tome looted from one of those previously raided necromancers;
Locked the offending necronomicon called "It All Starts With Parting" safely away in a clear glass vault surrounded by a moat of lava;
Built an arboretum of clear glass and populated by numerous giant birds and giant mushrooms;
Built underfloor heating for a river in a failed attempt to prevent it freezing in the winter;
The list goes on.
I've not even
touched Adventurer mode yet, but then again, Fortress mode brings me so much joy.
A Stonesense render showing how the fortress looks from the surface can be found (
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3272850415) here.
Renault on 24/6/2024 at 19:41
Finished Still Wakes The Deep. I guess I warmed up to it a little for the story, and there were some cool underwater swimming sections near the end that were exciting. But overall it's just a lot of climbing ladders and trying to open doors that are locked. YMMV.
Also finished the first chapter of Fallen Aces. Really fun shooting game, and a great art style, but as I mentioned in the other thread, it's not really an ImmSim. I do look forward to the next 2 chapters whenever they come out though. It's funny, in almost every other game where stealth is an option, I'll go that route, but here I just wanted to kill everyone.
Anyone tackle Shadow of the Erdtree yet? Surprised I haven't found a single mention of it anywhere here. It's intriguing because it's received near unanimous critical acclaim, but is only getting about 65% approval on Steam atm. I'd like to hear more opinions before I buy.
Aja on 24/6/2024 at 20:16
Yes, I've been playing the Erdtree DLC all weekend. I admit I wasn't super excited for it since I kind of burned out on Elden Ring when it came out, but I'm glad I decided to get it anyway.
My quick take: it's gorgeous, and its open world feels focused compared to the often-tedious base game's map. So far I haven't found any endless boring swamps or endless boring deserts or endless boring snowy plains. Each direction I've struck out in has yielded something interesting. It almost reminds me of Ocarina of Time's hub world, where there's a central field with branching paths to each of the dungeons. The two I've played so far were both excellent. One of the bosses in particular is among the most stunning From have ever designed.
And it seems to me that either their graphics tech has improved, or maybe it's their art design; the vistas are more dramatic (with the drama changing flavour depending on the time of day and weather), and the geography somehow feels more readable and realistic. It doesn't have as much of the Oblivion-like grass and scenery pop-in that sometimes marred the main game. The music is wonderful. The new weapons are useful and fun. And while I don't know how much of the map I've unlocked, my sense is that it's about half the size of the base game, which means it's probably twice the size of most games.
That said, it is difficult, as reviewers have noted. Given ER's length, I stopped trying to solo every boss, and I've made peace with using summons and spirits. I've found the DLC challenge high but doable. You can make your own challenge, to a degree, by deciding how much assistance you want to use for any given fight. But it's not for the impatient. If you didn't like Elden Ring, you probably won't like this. But if, like me, you loved Elden Ring but wished that it had reined itself in a bit, then I highly recommend you give it a shot.
PigLick on 25/6/2024 at 02:20
Keep in mind that you have to have finished the game and beaten an optional boss to access the dlc, which counts me out by a large margin, so I am just watching my daughter play. It's brutal. But looks amazing and way more vertical than the original.
Renault on 25/6/2024 at 02:57
Actually - you don't have to finish the game. You just have to have beaten Radahn and Mohg (both technically optional bosses as far as finishing the game goes) to open the pathway to the DLC.
Aja on 25/6/2024 at 03:27
I never found Mohg until I saw it was a DLC prereq and had to look up the path. By then I was vastly overlevelled and killed him on my first try, but it didn't bode as well for my DLC experience, where I was killed in the first minute or so by the first enemy I met.
