The General Videogame Thread

[Dona.794]

The General Videogame Thread

Hi everyone, welcome to the new game forums! This is a continuation of Playing Other Games thread.

A couple of rules to highlight:
- if you want to discuss specific game or series, you can do it in separate threads - only one thread per game / series, doesn't matter if it's PC, console or multiplatform game. The thread should contain the exact game name.
- before creating a new thread - check, if there isn't similar thread

So, if there's a game or series you'd like to discuss in depth, please open a new topic! Little bits of what you're currently playing, general thoughts etc. are welcome in this one.

 

[Chewin3]

View attachment 1594

Glad to see the good ol' game threat back. Recently started playing Dark Souls, and about time I say. My death toll is sky high, but I still have had a great time exploring Lordran and everytime I successfully kill a boss feels like a real satisfaction. Recent fight was up against the Great Grey Wolf Sif. Fuck that beast! I have too poor of equipment to do any real damage, so the battle drags on a bit and it is hard staying alive for an extended period of time. Ah well, I might be able to kill if after a few more tries.

 

[Glaroug.531]

With just a little resin a rusty old sword can cut quite a chunk. Perhaps it is time to visit grandma again

March 11 cannot get here fast enough

 

[Garrison72]

So I bought unEpic on GOG for $2.50 this weekend. Gameplay wise its really solid, reminiscent of old school stat-driven RPG's. Has a very functional interface, the kind you wish modern RPG's would return to. Overall quite charming...except the humor. God is the writing abysmal. If a person can ignore that, it's a pretty good metrodvania title to check out.

 

[volsung]

I've been playing Chains of Satinav (thanks GOG for the free copy!) and, not having played proper adventure games in a while, it has been very entertaining. I'll write a proper commentary once I finish it but in general it's charming and engaging. Daedalic needs to work on at least these two things however, that are also present in the Deponia series:

1. Animations are too stiff. I have no problem with limited budget or whatever, but they're going for the hand drawn effect and the animations are too jerky. Sometimes it feels more like one of those motion comics. Maybe that's what they're after? But then again there are *some* smooth animations, so it just feels inconsistent.

2. Some puzzles are way too obscure and have no relation with the character's modus operandi or general logical reasoning. Of course trial and error will accomplish much, but there should be an element of reasoning and not just experimenting. LucasArts adventures had plenty of puzzles that required thinking "out of the box", using objects in absurd and hilarious ways. But somehow these actions felt consistent with the general game world, and I personally think this is where Daedalic has to improve.

If anyone cares about The Dark Eye RPG, there's this new strategy/RPG called Blackguards set in The Dark Eye that looks very entertaining. Similar to The Banner Saga or Expeditions Conquistador, likely without the decision making element. The battle system is supposed to be quite good despite a less than perfect UI. These two (Banner Saga, Blackguards) are in my list of games to buy as soon as they're on sale (so many games left to play, why not wait until prices drop, right?).

 

[misho8723]

I'm playing Might & Magic X and it is so far a great game.. bad engine and the graphics, well, let just say they aren't nothing to be proud of.. but otherwise great and HARD old-school RPG game.. a very HARD game, ok? .. some things could be better though (story, VA, better balancing, better engine optimization (or another engine),..)

 

[Aditya]

I'm just waiting for ep 2 of The Wolf Among Us. Not much mood for playing anything these days :S

 

[ReptilePZ]

Should be coming out tomorrow.

 

[soldiergeralt]

matt rhodes. worst artist in the industry? i think so.

The best designs (especially designs for characters that are meant to be scary or intimidating) are ones that maintain a percentage of goofiness”.

go on...

He would show up looking like an idiot, but once he murdered a prisoner in cold blood and then ripped your health down to nothing you would learn to fear that stupid looking shape”

said about this design:
http://pcgmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cerberus_trooper_08.jpg

i guess the best designs should also look completely impractical and stupid as well. not to mention is description of the prisoner killing would have worked for non-stupid designs as well. rhodes is the guy behind most mass effect 2 and 3 designs, which is why the art direction sucked compared to the first. and he also designed the annoying looking dwarf from dragon age, possibly based on himself.

http://masseffectconceptart.tumblr.com/image/3385905113
lets see, he took the elegant full figured look and sleek organic lines of the original design and turned it into another generic space robot with hideous straps everywhere breaking the figure into ugly little segments.

oh and nice work adding the snake skin/carbon fiber pattern to add more "excitement" to the suit. gotta put as many of those ugly little details with zero consideration on its overall impact.

http://masseffectconceptart.tumblr.com/image/3312152936
matt rhodes, fashion designer extraordinaire. messy, pointlessly intricate, and clearly going for that "not cool" look, which is the basis of his design philosophy. as you can see, here he is trying to find the right look for someone who will essentially be involved in vigorous fighting throughout the whole game. are there enough honeycomb holes in her clothing? is she baring enough skin? tough questions.

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/10/xlarge_head_05.jpg
brilliant work. here a prisoner devises the means of her escape while hanging upside down to attract as much attention as possible... no doubt to help facilitate her escape through aerobatics and bullet dodging. no cartoonish cool factor here.

 

[ReptilePZ]

 

[Veleda.980]

I "played" Gone Home most recently. What a piece of crap. Glad I didn't pay full price for it. It's a lesson not to pay attention to critics' reviews.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Same with me and "The Stanley Parable."

 

[soldiergeralt]

but they're so artsy and profoundly philosophical.

 

[Veleda.980]

Same with me and "The Stanley Parable."

Is that bad, too? Damn. I want to like this kind of game. I actually did enjoy Dear Esther, partly because I played it at 3 in the morning while I had insomnia so I was already feeling pretty trippy. At least there I felt like the sense of discovery and foreboding actually led somewhere.

 

[ReptilePZ]

It certainly wasn't for me, it annoyed me more than anything else. Can't say if you'd enjoy it, though.

 

[volsung]

I thought the Stanley Parable was fun and entertaining. Not "funny" as in "ha ha", but fun. You don't quite get the premise until the game messes with you for a bit. In essence, the game questions routine and submission by presenting you with scenarios where you find yourself submerged in routine and submission. It's somewhat ironic and sarcastic, relatively creative and considerably self referential. I think people expected too much of it but that's their problem. My opinion: it's fun and worth playing at least a few times in a row. Do not pay full price though.

 

[ReptilePZ]

Yea, I felt the game thought it was smarter than it actually is or at least not as clever as critics made it appear to be.

 

[Dona.794]

The Stanley Parable is different, it's ~meta~ and has multiple endings and, yeah, there's a bit of philosophy in there. I played the original mod and liked it well enough, though I think its popularity has been overblown by certain youtube reviewers. Internet culture and all that.

Gone Home was a wonderful experience to me, but it's a linear one-shot story/exploration aimed to invoke 90s nostalgia. I understand why it isn't for everyone.

 

[Veleda.980]

What type of philosophy does Stanley Parable deal with? What made it annoying? I don't mind spoilers.

 

[ReptilePZ]

The thing that annoyed me was that I could almost feel the game designer saying "Didn't see that coming, did ya? Got ya good, huh?" when the message was actually pretty obvious. That and the whole ~meta~ thing, as Dona put it. "Aren't we edgy and clever?" No game, you aren't. That's how I felt anyway.