2016 VIDEO GAME CATCH-ALL THREAD

[J.T.]

I have now become paranoid while playing this game.  Go figure.

Game immersion does not eliminate who we are as people.  For lack of better terminology, I usually take a Paragon perspective when gaming.  I don't kill "innocents," I am a "tactics" guy that prefers stealth and subterfuge to open confrontation, and I have a mix of liberal and conservative social tendencies.

I've noticed that I just don't randomly hack bank accounts.   I don't siphon money from Chicagoites suffering from cancer or going through a divorce or any other social tragedy, but I will not hesitate to currency jack suspected pedophiles or other people whose profiles remotely stink of criminal activity unless that activity is blackhat hacker stuff.  I leave those toons alone out of professional courtesy.

I don't go after people for espousing moderate political opinions, but suspected abortion clinic arsonists or gun hoarders can expect to have their finances nibbled at.

I hack Blume Affiliates because they are the tendrils of the shadowy Evil Empire in this game but I hack phones with system keys, vehicle unlocks, or SongSneak tracks as a matter of practicality.

My relationship with the police is also a mixture of game immersion and meta-gaming.   I don't fuck around with the cops out of a mix of pure game mechanics (ex. police in games like these are super lethal and arrive in endless numbers, any harm I inflict on police cumulatively deteriorates my Paragon reputation) and plain old criminal logic best explained by my man Daniel Craig in the movie, Layer Cake.

"Know and respect your enemy! It is only very very stupid people who think the law is stupid."

This being a game about the control of information and invisible hands shaping the collective zeitgeist of society, I sometimes wonder if Ubisoft is making note of the patterns I display in-game, pipe them off to some server somewhere, and generate their own individual profile of me for use in whatever nefarious plot they see fit to use it in.

*sinister music plays*

[J.T.]

I'm running out of shit to spend money on.  It is getting to the point where I don't even bother to siphon bank accounts thanks to sprawling cash reserves..

I don't haunt the clothing store anymore because I hate the remaining outfits, even though rotating the five or six outfits I normally wear is getting tiresome. 

I don't hack the phones of any suspected parcel deliveries because the cost to keep myself in crafting materials is nominal.  My major expense right now is ammo as my five-star pump-action grenade launcher and the Biometric Rifle see a lot of action lately.

I don't pay for the premium vehicles on the Cars-On-Demand app because it is cheaper to either steal a car off the street or simply call in for the Hacker Batmobile before going on a mission.  I've either bought or unlocked nearly all of the five-star weapons in the game, so the days of underwhelming firepower are over.

The cost of keeping my Focus overbuffed is like two or three dollars so it is worth the investment.  I always hit a fast food joint for a soda or grab a coffee after a mission or other activity.

Stealing cars is actually more profitable because of the cash, crafting materials, or Pawn Shop fodder you can find in the glove box.  I went to the local corner vampire to buy more electronic parts for Blackouts and found that I was sitting on $17,000 worth of valuables that I simply neglected to trade in for hard currency.

 

[Neil Koch]

Picked up a couple of Chinese bootleg Genesis/Mega Drive games.  On the left is Water Margin, which is based on a classic Chinese novel that has been adapted into several movies, including The Storm Riders.  The game on the right is Yang's Warrior Family, which uses the popular folk heroes that have appeared in many series and movies, such as The 14 Amazons and Saving General Yang. 

[Kevin Wilson]

I don't think it is popular enough to get its own thread, maybe when the PS4 version comes out this fall, but did anyone spring for the Oculus Rift or Vive? I took the bait and ordered a Rift as I am just too curious about the new technology, but I took the bait late so I won't get mine until June or so.

[Lamp, broken circa 1988]

POKEMON BLUE: Just got through the SS Anne, and realizing I've forgotten how this game is paced. It still seems huge for a portable RPG, but there are aspects of grinding right now that are irritating me. I'm still sticking to it until I at least get a Haunter.
Lineup: Mew lv 24, Geodude level 23, Ivysaur level 22, Fearow level 20, Gyrados level 21, Pikachu level 23

HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER: startlingly beautiful, aggressively difficult. People who are making Dark Souls comparisons are short-sighted. It feels more like Ninja Gaiden did, where half the fight is running between damage phases. I want to play all of it in my face all the time. I also don't want to say too much about it.

BATTLEBORN: how to make a multiplayer shooter I don't want to play- make it slow, make it take forever, make everyone talk all the time, you have to worry about level progression, there are purchasable turrets/creep camps everywhere, and your team is only as good as your teammates' understanding of what's happening. It's not a MOBA, but frankly, it could use a lot more MOBA in it, because the three elements they've plucked from it and placed among the rest stick out as growths instead of flourishes. Like, either lean into that, or lean back towards Quake, because this halfway point is sterile as fuck.

SALT AND SANCTUARY: If you were to ask me about my top three 360 exclusive games, one of those three is The Dishwasher. Salt And Sanctuary is Dishwasher Souls. I'm going to play a lot of it. I will get back to you once I am further inside.

STARDEW VALLEY UPDATE: Almost at 80 hours. About to complete the community center (just need a rabbit's foot). Letting twitter name my birds, naming my cows after gaijin (so far: Hansen, Brody, Vader, Norton). Have a dog named Human, have a horse named Phillies, have a greenhouse full of blueberries, and am exploring the desert cave. This Game Is Real Good.

[J.T.]

12 hours ago, Neil Koch said:

Picked up a couple of Chinese bootleg Genesis/Mega Drive games.  On the left is Water Margin, which is based on a classic Chinese novel that has been adapted into several movies, including The Storm Riders.  The game on the right is Yang's Warrior Family, which uses the popular folk heroes that have appeared in many series and movies, such as The 14 Amazons and Saving General Yang. 

I need to get a Mega Drive and find a friendly yet disreputable console game salesman to sell these games to me.

[Zheroen]

Feel the HYPE for Battleborn (found outside of a GAME store in the UK)!

[J.T.]

I've taken a little time away from story missions to build up skill points to unlock the 4 and 5-point abilities in my Progression Tree.

I'm getting close to the FCs, GHs, and CCs I need for achievements and nearly all of my regular weapons are five stars.  I've finally encountered some CCs where I can vary up my methods of ambush.  I've been able to score a head on Focus-assisted killshot on a target with my heavy sniper rifle from an overpass in one case and employed a grenade launcher attack at a busy intersection in another.  Nice to not have to rely on the usual roadside bomb strategy for everything.

I think my favorite mission so far has been Dressed in Peels aka Prison Break.  The shotgun battle in the correctional facility kitchen definitely plays to the strengths of the game.  Bursting steam pipes and constantly darting from cover to cover allows you to flank your enemies that are focused on your last hiding spot and catch them off guard. 

The introduction of the Enforcer NPC class in the mission was a bit lackluster thanks to the game pathing (ie. The "epic encounter" lasted about ten seconds of game time as the poor bastard wandered right past an electrical panel that I quickly overloaded.), but combat still felt fairly fluid in spite of the wonky cover system.. 

My second favorite mission so far is probably Not The Pizza Guy.  It pays to read, folks.  It took me three replays to figure out why Jordi wasn't providing sniper support.  Jordi only shoots distracted enemies so it was time to use those lures I've been stockpiling in addition to the available environment hacks.  It also paid off to have points invested in Disable Helicopter by the time that mission rolled around

The mission objectives keep scenarios from feeling too repetitious, but puzzle solving can be very painful if your hiding place is suddenly discovered by enemy NPCs.  As I mentioned in a previous post, there are no commensurate awards given to you for pure stealth approaches to missions, so you will find yourself cheerfully killing or KOing minion NPCs in order to milk every little bit of XP out of every encounter. 

You earn twice as much XP from foiling street criminals by knocking them out, but you will constantly get pings on your Profiler, so my advice is to deal with street criminals as quickly as possible and move on.  If they are armed and shoot first, shoot back and make sure you have a comm jammer handy just in case someone makes a 911 call.

It is now my personal mission to find a Chicago FD station and steal a fire truck find a hospital and steal an ambulance.   Those are the last two vehicles I need to round out the heavy vehicle section of my Car-On-Demand app, but ambulances and fire trucks do not stop for ANYTHING when you encounter them in the city and I am certain that If I stepped out in front of one in prep for a carjacking, I'd be street pizza.

[Andrew POE!]

After about two years, finally 100% Contrast for PS4. It's a decent puzzle game despite the controls being wonky and borderline broken.

I took advantage of double XP weekend in Star Wars Battlefront and got the level 50 trophy. Got about 10 trophies left before I Platinum it.

Did more of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Just have one multiplayer online trophy left (level 50 with any character) to do.

 

 

[Shane]

Got the 1000g in Lego Avengers. In a week. This is what happens when the lady is off on a business trip, I guess.

 

Won't bother with the DLC, so I'll always be 250g short. That doesn't bother me as a gamer, but it sure does annoy my inner completionist. 

[RIPPA]

Yup - totally wasn't expecting to see Little Mermaid's tits this weekend

[J.T.]

2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Yup - totally wasn't expecting to see Little Mermaid's tits this weekend

I see what you are trying to do here... 

I think Mark blabbed that about that scene over Live chat after he beat that game, so I know all about that deal..

One thing I didn't expect to see in Watch Dogs was:

Spoiler

Hacking a webcam feed and finding a john and a prostitute (both obviously trippin' balls on heroin or something) in the middle of "foreplay," consisting of a game of Russian Roulette where the prostitute spins the cylinder of a revolver, aims, at the john, and pulls the trigger.

Apparently he gets off on near death experiences.

 

[Basara]

Thought I was getting the hang of this Bloodborne thing. I've managed to kill 6 of the 9 bosses I've faced so far on my first try. Figured that was pretty good. Then I fought Ebrietas. Fuck Ebrietas.

[J.T.]

The war against the Viceroys has begun in earnest. 

I've blackmailed Iraq's cousin, Bedbug (worst gangsta name ever), and forced him to become my snitch.  He informed me that Iraq was going to attend some crazy ass criminal auction sponsored by the Chicago South Club, so naturally I have to put my ass on the line and infiltrate the meet.  The auction will provide the best opportunity for me to scan the code on Iraq's dog tags and get me access to the Black Viceroy black hat hacker server room.

To do that, I have to pose as a buyer.  

First stage of the plan, I had to trail some guy in a boat and then steal his briefcase when he came to a marina close to the Merlaut Hotel.

I sure am glad that watercraft handle a lot better than cars, or at least there is less shit to hit head on while tailing another boat.

I had to smack one curious thug in the head with my baton while infiltrating the marina and managed to sneak by everyone else.  Chicago PD sure doesn't mind heavily armed men just walking around town with automatic weapons, but Heaven forbid I return fire with my auto-revolver at some random criminal asshole that guns someone down in cold blood in broad daylight and then starts shooting at me.

I have discovered that another thing that bugs me about this game is interaction with dead / neutralized NPCs.  Enemies will investigate downed allies if they notice them lying on the ground.   Sometimes this is desirable because I want to use the downed NPC as bait to lure another enemy into an ambush, but sometimes the discovery of a fallen enemy happens at the worst possible time and then angry things are shouted into smart phones and people start hunting for you with extreme prejudice..

Unlike in the Hitman games or Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. you can't drag bodies out of view, so your only option is to keep moving and try to draw the attention of enemy NPCs away from your path of progress or escape, and that leads me to another pet peeve with this game.

NPC response to distractions is extremely sketchy.  I can throw a lure in between two NPCs, activate it, and only one asshole will investigate.  His buddy will only blink if his headset his hackable or if I additionally activate a forklift, blow up an electrical panel, or trip a car alarm.

The game has it rigged so that some NPCs will ONLY respond to specific distractions unless it is something that results in the death of another NPC.  That sucks.

Next on my list is to steal the identity of some underworld figure named Nicholas Crispin..  Knowing this game I will have to off this asshole so that we do not show up at this mysterious auction at the same time.  Fine by me as most of my vigilante activity has been less Death Wish and more Batman and I would like the opportunity to fire at least one or two shots in anger. 

There haven't been too many missions that have started off as a pure gunfight that I can enjoy without some helpful citizen dialing 911.

[Michael Sweetser]

On 4/5/2016 at 11:09 AM, Neil Koch said:

You are ok.  That is what I did also, mostly so I can use the fast travel because most of the cars are so useless.

I was the same way in Watch Dogs - I figured that I was supposed to be staying undercover for the most part, so doing random hacks of money would just not make sense.  Besides, the people fucking around and doing illegal stuff had the most money to give to begin with.

On 4/8/2016 at 4:15 PM, Kevin Wilson said:

I don't think it is popular enough to get its own thread, maybe when the PS4 version comes out this fall, but did anyone spring for the Oculus Rift or Vive? I took the bait and ordered a Rift as I am just too curious about the new technology, but I took the bait late so I won't get mine until June or so.

I preordered the Rift as well but I'm pretty sure I'm stuck in the May/June fulfillment cycle as well, since I haven't seen any further updates on my order.

[J.T.]

40 minutes ago, Michael Sweetser said:

I was the same way in Watch Dogs - I figured that I was supposed to be staying undercover for the most part, so doing random hacks of money would just not make sense.

It also messes with my sense of immersion.  If I am the "good guy" or at least some sort of moralist anti-hero, how does it make me look if I am hacking the bank accounts of the NPC random citizen who is suffering from early stages of MS or is going through a divorce?  Some protagonist I am...

If the profile of the person with the hackable bank account is sketchy ("sociopathic tendencies" or "frequent online searches: explosives") then I thank them in advance for their anonymous donation to my war fund.

And as you say, there is more profit to be made and an achievement to unlock by completing Fixer Contracts.

Unlocking new vehicles or SongSneak tracks is metagaming, so hacking those phones does not really bother me.  

[JustJay]

Enter the Gungeon is really good. I suck at it and get my ass handed to me as soon as I get to level 2. That is even if I get that far. So much fun and the gun variety is crazy! I had one gun that was an ant that shot fire ants that caught on fire. Also, a gun that shot bees. Another that was the nes light gun that when you went to reload a duck shot out of it. I'll be playing this off and on for years. Such a great game if I want to waste 10 minutes here and there. 

[Neil Koch]

On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 6:52 AM, J.T. said:

I need to get a Mega Drive and find a friendly yet disreputable console game salesman to sell these games to me.

Genesis/Mega Drive games aren't region locked, so you can use a Genesis.  Depending on the model, you may have to do a bit of MacGuyvering to fit in the cartridge.

I got the carts from Aliexpress, which is the mobile version of Alibaba (aka Chinese Amazon).  They work fine (Yang Warrior Family even came with a manual) but there is a definite cheap Chinese knockoff look and feel to the carts and cases.  The games are actually really well made though, especially for something totally unofficial.  Water Margin in particular is fun, probably because a lot of stuff was appropriated from Capcom's beat em up like Knights in the Round.

Etsy has been another good place to find some of the more unique stuff.  I've gotten carts like a English translated/uncensored version of Bare Knuckle 3 (Streets of Rage 3), a prototype of Beyond Zero Tolerance, and shumps that were only released in Japan.  One I am waiting on now is Kiss Shot, which was only released on the Japanese version of the Sega Channel.

[Tabe]

Yeah, on an early Genesis, all you have to do is make the cartridge opening a little bigger using a file or similar.

[Tabe]

On 4/10/2016 at 8:56 AM, RIPPA said:

Yup - totally wasn't expecting to see Little Mermaid's tits this weekend

What the heck is the context here?

[RIPPA]

6 minutes ago, Tabe said:

What the heck is the context here?

The Wolf Among Us

[J.T.]

17 hours ago, Tabe said:

What the heck is the context here?

 

17 hours ago, RIPPA said:

The Wolf Among Us

Tabe was thinking Disney, not Fables.

[J.T.]

Fucking Watch Dogs mini-games...

I am determined to clean out the high stakes poker table.  I had to go back to auto-save checkpoints twice after losing my cool when I had a full house and the game gave the fucking Big Blind four of a kind.  

Dude was obviously cheating which is why I shot him.   Revert to Previous Save? Yes, please, before the police arrive.

[Raziel]

I am sad that it took me so damn long to get into Skyrim, it's everything I ever wanted in a RPG and more. 

[J.T.]

Say good bye to every other game you thought you were going to play this year.   I think I still have Ra'Viir The Ghostclaw parked somewhere near the last Thieves' Guild quest.  That was six months ago.