2015 VIDEO GAME CATCH-ALL THREAD

[JLSigman]

FYI: Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm MOBA has gone into open Beta, and they promise they won't wipe your account before it goes live in a couple of weeks. I'm'a give it a spin tomorrow and see if it's anything I'm interested in.

[assfax]

Last week I did one of the most important things a man can do in his life.  Have super fast goddamned internet installed.  I downloaded Witcher 3 in 26 minutes.  I'm too old and downtrodden to actually get excited though.

[Zimbra]

I've been bored, depressed, and stuck in the house for 2 months, so I've been playing shitloads o' games!

 

Darkest Dungeon: I put this down until it's out of early access, but it's so goddamn good.  Fiddling with classes, abilities, and positioning to optimize your squad is incredibly satisfying.  The combat is basically "JRPG, but better," although I wish it wasn't quite so RNG-dependent.

 

Sunless Sea: I want to like this more than I actually do.  It has so much personality and flavor, but the gameplay feels lacking to me.  I love the idea of news and stories being a kind of in-game currency, but the way it's implemented makes it feel like I'm just finding the correctly-shaped peg to put into a whole to move the quests along.  And the combat, at least in early game, is not satisfying at all.  I'm hoping this is like FTL and just takes some time to get going.

 

Helldivers: It's like Smash TV meets Destiny meets Starship Troopers.  So dumb and fun and fast, but with lots of great design decisions.  Little things like having to enter a Konami-code style pattern to get resupply and support drops, and then having the possibility and getting smashed like a bug by your own drop, add another layer of interest to the shooting.  

 

Guacamelee - Great look, great combat, I wish there was a bit more exploration.  The puzzle-type rooms are enjoyable and well-designed.

 

Escape Goat 2: It's a puzzle/platformer.  It does its job admirably, if unexceptionally.

 

Civilization V: HOW DID I GET SO BAD AT CIV!?

[Raziel]

FYI: Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm MOBA has gone into open Beta, and they promise they won't wipe your account before it goes live in a couple of weeks. I'm'a give it a spin tomorrow and see if it's anything I'm interested in.

Tried it.  Its a dumbed down MOBA in that its easy to pick up and be effective with some practice (while I had the least amount of Hero kills in the couple team games I played, my effectiveness in killing minions and towers put me at the top the XP contribution list), but high level competitive play is going to be as cutthroat as standard MOBA's, where coordination, hotkeying, and kiting is going to be paramount.  But there's enough non-competitive grinding/traning options to keep you out of the league area and away from standard MOBA-player noob abuse.

[Vincey Greene]

WHAT IS WRONG WITH Y'ALL.

SAMURAI SHOWDOWN 2.

FUCK.

Not even the best Samsho game. Samurai Shodown III has aged far better and feels far more like a sword fight. Plus the Slash/Bust system and the three skill levels add a ton of variety and strategy.

Come at me bro.

EDIT to expand: I know it's trite to say but c'mon, in what world is KOF98 not the best SNK fighter.

[Andrew POE!]

 

 

Who doesn't like Guacamelee??? I'm really questioning your taste in games, brother...

 

I don't. The controls are terrible. The game manages to coast for a long time on style and presentation.

 

 

I don't get that criticism at all and wonder if we played the same game. Different strokes, I guess. 

 

 

If your thumbs can't actually perform any of the actions they suggest for attacks and you can't tell the difference between them (I'm talking about the attacks where you 'hold circle' and 'press up and then circle'), then they failed on controls. I ended up just mashing buttons and just tried to beat the game. I understand I need to 'git gud' but I almost think the game needed LESS attacks to correspond to the same button.

 

And the boss battles are mostly unbalanced and unfair.

[Lamp, broken circa 1988]

RE: SamSho2

 

SamSho isn't a great fighting game, but it's probably SNK's best overall game. Most fighting games are centered "hit, hit hard, and don't get hit." SamSho's core principle is "Don't Miss." It is purely the element of comeback and punishment made into it's own game. It's a different rhythm and a different experience. So of course it looks and feels weird next to every other fighting game. So like, I don't begrudge people for thinking Last Blade is easier to get into and therefore better? But everything in SamSho just feels like fucking destruction, and that's what I'm into.

 

Also, "more stuff" is literally never an argument that's going to win me over. SamSho2 might have a little too much going on. I don't want more strategy. I don't want more to think about. I want it to be me and my muscles and my instincts. Or something so slow that I can do it while listening to podcasts or cleaning my room. That's what I'm looking for from a game.

and SNK's best fighting game is either KOF 96 or 98, yeah. 96 is more sentiment for me because it's the one I did best in when it was in arcades. I also like XIII a pretty good amount, and I got REAL into Garou but can no longer tell if that means it's good or if it's just appeasing my own senses.

RE: Outrun 2006

It's really an odd game. You should play it, just because it's so... Okay, so there's normal race mode, and that's whatever. Then there's Heart Attack mode, where you have a lady in your car and you have to appease them with feats of driving. Like running cars off the road. Or threading needles between equally spaced cars. Or avoid getting abducted. Also all of the music has really odd names? Like "Life Was A Bore" and shit. I dunno. You should see it. I have no idea if it's any good. It's probably not any good but I had a good time with it.

[Raziel]

More time with Heroes of the Storm:

 

Its solid, and the community doesn't totally suck, but that might be because everyone's still Tiering the characters and learning the maps and such.  Build orders for characters are important, and right now, you can get decently into the game for free (buying new characters costs gold, or real money, but the gold is earned in game), and you can buy a current Tier 1 ranged character for 2000G, which you get by level 2, so its accessable.

 

Now, we'll see what happens on the 2nd and it goes from Beta to "Live".

[Death From Above]

Blizzard doing a MOBA is so weird to me because I remember when DOTA was a Warcraft III mod you* played in the custom lobby and not, you know, one of the two highest played games on Steam every single day all the time.

 

It's not full circle, but full oval maybe.

 

(*"You" being "not me" because I was a tower defense guy.)

 

In my own gaming news I just got this yesterday: http://store.steampowered.com/app/263560/ I haven't actually played it yet. Looks cool as fuck though. Anything new drawing comparisons to Wizardry I had to be at least a little curious about.

[Death From Above]

Last week I did one of the most important things a man can do in his life.  Have super fast goddamned internet installed.  I downloaded Witcher 3 in 26 minutes.  I'm too old and downtrodden to actually get excited though.

 

Can I come over to your house, download a bunch of shit, and then leave? It's probably cheaper than just downloading it at home on what Rogers considers internet in rural Canada.

[Lamp, broken circa 1988]

You two really need to podcast together.

i would absolutely be down for this btw. I got good mics cuz I make music.

[Andrew POE!]

Got the last multiplayer trophy in Medal of Honor Warfighter.

 

Before you ask....don't attempt it. It's way too grindy and the online only has ~20 to 30 people playing every night. EA should shut this down, but they probably won't anytime soon. 

[assfax]

 

Last week I did one of the most important things a man can do in his life.  Have super fast goddamned internet installed.  I downloaded Witcher 3 in 26 minutes.  I'm too old and downtrodden to actually get excited though.

 

Can I come over to your house, download a bunch of shit, and then leave? It's probably cheaper than just downloading it at home on what Rogers considers internet in rural Canada.

 

999 GB monthly limit dude.

[Death From Above]

You're worlds higher than mine. Enjoy that.

[Big Fresh]

You two really need to podcast together.

i would absolutely be down for this btw. I got good mics cuz I make music.

And I got shitty mics because I make videos that no one watches.

[Big Fresh]

Since it's Samoa Joe day, might as well mention he is voicing a character in Telltale's Game of Thrones game!

[JLSigman]

More time with Heroes of the Storm:

 

Its solid, and the community doesn't totally suck, but that might be because everyone's still Tiering the characters and learning the maps and such.  Build orders for characters are important, and right now, you can get decently into the game for free (buying new characters costs gold, or real money, but the gold is earned in game), and you can buy a current Tier 1 ranged character for 2000G, which you get by level 2, so its accessable.

 

Now, we'll see what happens on the 2nd and it goes from Beta to "Live".

Having never played a MOBA, I was worried about the community, but the folks in the couple of matches I've managed were decent types. I admit, they see "JL Sigman" and I leave it at that, so I may be not seeing stuff someone with "JennSigman" would see. But when I explained after dying for the third time that I was new, they did not immediately tear me down, so that's a plus.

 

I don't know that I'll actually play much of it, but it might be fun every once in a while.

[Craig H]

Aww, no one knows I made a MOBA thread.

 

In any event, I like HotS a lot. More than Dota 2. HotS really highlighted the things I dislike about Dota the most, like the store. In the middle of a fast paced match, fucking with that store is so cumbersome. With HotS, you're just concerned with your build-out, assigning abilities as you level up. That's the other thing HotS does better with leveling up as a team. Far too often on Dota, someone gets left behind and it makes matches uneven. It also makes it very difficult to get into games because you're just always getting your ass kicked by others more experienced than you. The maps in HotS are way better as well, with interactive elements and earning creeps to fight with you.

 

On the other hand, I like that Dota makes EVERY "legend" available to you right from the start. There's no fucking around with earning gold or buying gold to buy characters, like in HotS. That's about the only thing I like with Dota more than HotS.

[Don]

Finally picked up an Xbox One, so I have something to play Witcher III on. (Witcher III not included)

[TheVileOne]

Be careful with Witcher 3, the game will suck you in and you will spend hours of your life on it.

 

Boy, really digging the game, though graphically it doesn't look and move quite as good as I hoped.  CD Projekt Red basically admitted the game is downgraded from the trailers and they juice up the visuals for the trailers but can't maintain that level of visuals for an open world game, which isn't a big deal, but whatever.

 

If I have a problem with Witcher 3, I'm not a huge fan of the crafting.  I know that's an RPG thing, but I find the crafting system too overwrought.  Not to mention you need tons of materials to craft what you want that are few and far between. And there never seems to be enough money in the coffers between repairing your weaponry, paying smith to dismantle random items into new materials that still doesn't become what you need for crafting, etc.

[SirFozzie]

Is there anyone that A) Hasn't played the Shadowrun Returns series of games, and B ) Wants to? I have steam keys for both SHadowrun Returns and SR:R Dragonfall:Directors Cut

[Zimbra]

Is there anyone that A) Hasn't played the Shadowrun Returns series of games, and B ) Wants to? I have steam keys for both SHadowrun Returns and SR:R Dragonfall:Directors Cut

 

I'll take the Dragonfall key, if you're offering.

[SirFozzie]

I'll split it, since two people asked, PM's going out shortly.

[Stay Gold]

Be careful with Witcher 3, the game will suck you in and you will spend hours of your life on it.

 

Boy, really digging the game, though graphically it doesn't look and move quite as good as I hoped.  CD Projekt Red basically admitted the game is downgraded from the trailers and they juice up the visuals for the trailers but can't maintain that level of visuals for an open world game, which isn't a big deal, but whatever.

 

If I have a problem with Witcher 3, I'm not a huge fan of the crafting.  I know that's an RPG thing, but I find the crafting system too overwrought.  Not to mention you need tons of materials to craft what you want that are few and far between. And there never seems to be enough money in the coffers between repairing your weaponry, paying smith to dismantle random items into new materials that still doesn't become what you need for crafting, etc.

 

I'm also digging Witcher 3, and don't mind the graphics downgrade. I can't really tell the difference, really, but I also didn't watch every trailer or many gameplay videos in the lead up to its release. But this grabbed me right away. This will probably end up being what I wanted Dragon Age: Inquisition to be.

 

I haven't gotten too far into it to get overwhelmed by crafting, so my only complaint right now has to do with movement/controls. But it's something that I'll probably/hopefully get used to over time. Really dig how Geralt automatically uses the appropriate sword depending on the situation.

[assfax]

Once I figured out that you just use the B button dodge instead of rolling around like in Witcher 2 I started kicking ass.  Didn't like how they changed Yrden, then realized that Axii operated how Yrden did in W2.  Still think Yrden doesn't seem as useful.  I believe the higher up you level it, it becomes like that force field that Triss used in W2. Kinda don't like how you can't selectively craft shit.  After you make it once it's just autofilled if you have materials when you meditate.  Haven't squinted at the fine print but I'm assuming ingredients don't overlap.  I'm assuming.  I don't want it to craft up a bunch of shit when I was banking on having the makings for an oil or somethin'.  Bastards. 

 

Love when you use Aard on a drowner and knock it down then just fucking coup de grâce the motherfucker.  Love it when you have a pack of wolves on yer ass and you one shot the whole lot with Igni.  Use Axii on a wild horse to tame it.  I have no idea why you'd need to do that but it worked after I just tried to jump on one.

 

I was in that starting town and there was this amazing stormfront moving in.  Wind was whippin' about.  Shit looked awesome.  Like those Red Dead Redemption thunderstorms. 

 

The way abilities are handled is definitely more flexible than the way upgrades worked in #2.  Almost more like Diablo 3 where you can swap out shit depending on yer situation.