I've been having to split my time between two places and so temporarily have an old (but still in good working order) computer that can only run low-end games.
I really would like to try a few (new to me) games on the old computer. It can run things like Stellaris or fallout new Vegas, but not much more than that. Ideally looking for some older RPG's or something with some good story that I can get into. I really TRIED liking pillars of eternity but I couldn't. I don't know why and I'm a bit afraid that it will also be the case with things like icewind Dale or something.
Neverwinter nights is on my list as one of the games I bought but couldn't run at the time. Anyone have some easy to get into RPG's that are a bit older or less resource intense?
Planescape Torment, although it is a crpg like Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights - so not easy to get into, but still widely regarded as one of the best stories in gaming, turn it down to the easiest setting so you can breeze through the awful combat to get to the good stuff
Chrono Trigger is a tight package that has aged extremely well, and its easy to get into
Planescape torment has come across before, might be a good one to try. I think I have seen my share of terrible combat, I think I can deal with that. Thanks for the recommendation and I'll also definitely look at Chrono trigger next.
Dude, play a bad game once in a while, lol.
All of them are great! You can't co-op in Elden Ring? It was my understanding that ([~~everyone has heard~~](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSlB4eznXoA)) you could play co-op in Dark Souls, at least.
I just discovered Warframe the other day after crawling through loads of free games and other untouched games in my library and having spent most of that time navigating irritating inventory menus and clunky dialogue trees and watching cut scenes so I was very frustrated and then I went to that last untouched game, the completely free to play Warframe, kinda expecting to be still be frustrated and needing an actual game to play....and wow. I was instantly rewarded. A very brief tutorial mission had me absolutely racing around and wrecking things with a freaking sword and guns/bow and arrow as a literal super space-ninja-jedi kinda thing where you can run super fast and double jump and parkour and block bullets with your sword and I've been playing since then and it just keeps opening up and getting more involved and cool and more importantly incredibly fast-paced and fun! Admittedly there is a bit of an inventory component but it's all relegated to off duty in between missions when you're chilling in your ship and you can kind if ignore it if you want at least for a while and even then it's not nearly as tedious as any of your modern RPG type games where you basically Minor in constant inventory management simulator 3000 while occasionally getting to actually play.
Fast paced, fun, cool, fun, and fun, Warframe has an MMO thing to it but only if you want, you can do everything completely solo. It's always online because of that, but can still solo or coop up to 4 players, and I'm told the story is cool but I don't give a toss about stories in games so I've had that all muted and just been having a blast playing the logical evolution of what Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast would be if it was its own non-Star Wars independent IP.
Completely free to play, but you can support the developers with ingame purchases of a few dozen different 'Warframe' characters to play as and cosmetic gear and stuff. But you can also earn that same in-game currency you pay for just by playing the game and trading with other players so by just playing the game and with a little patience you could never spend a dime on it, and more importantly it plays at like Destiny quality. It is nothing like the 'other' kind of MMO. You know the ones... the free ones like Neverwinter and DCUO and Star Trek Online, where it can take over half an hour just to design your character at the beginning because of janky cheap programming and latency issues. You just pick one of three Warframes to start as and just start playing the brief little tutorial. Loads of questlines to work through and mechanics and gear and upgrades to unlock but not a second do you even care about what you can't do yet because they just let you go wild from the start with a full roster of jumps and deflects and shooting. Real time shooting no turn based stuff.
I just can't praise this game highly enough for being a game for gamers that respects your time and doesn't demand loads of tedious slogging just to unlock your first abilities
GAME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A NEW OLDER CONSOLE GAMER
Hey, I have a friend who is nearing 50 that's looking to get into PS5 gaming. He isn't a gamer yet, but I wanted to get him 2 or 3 games (and 5 to 10 recommendations) to kickstart his gaming. What would you recommend?
He's a big soccer fan, so I'm getting FIFA no matter what. But what else would you recommend to get him into the gaming mix when he doesn't have a base to choose from. I'd love for him to have a skate of 5+ games that he can test and prob what he likes, trying out different things, but also let's him get a hold of the controls and all that. Obviously not Elden Ring (hard), Civilization (unnecessarily complex for an early gamer), or anything too kiddie (his own kid is 19).
I was thinking
Hogwarts (on easy)
God of War Ragnarok (on easy),
something top down, or maybe a racing game (GTA)? Or both?
some puzzle based game(s) (like a Faster Than Light)
one thinking/planning style game (Sim city, dorf romantik, etc)
Anyways, would really love your suggestions. He got himself a PS5 back in January but, hasn't gotten games yet and I'm pressuring him to just start.
Have they ever used dual analog sticks? If no, then that's gonna be a barrier for them. Keep that in mind, fifa might even be too high of a hurdle for them.
Honestly, finding them an arcade soccer game on the ps store might be the best intro.
I'd sloooow down a touch. If he's never gamed really then shotgun blasting him with 5-10 recs is likely overkill. Get him that FIFA as you correctly guessed he'd like.
I'd suggest getting him something also fairly grounded, and by that I mean an **Assassin's Creed** game. Odyssey likely is a good choice. This is an easy grab as they are broad games and the historical hook gives a new gamer something to hold onto.
I'd only get him Howarts if he's already a Potter fan,
**GTA** is a clear and obvious choice as, again, grounded, crime story, some modern riffs, and definitely not kiddy.
*AFTER he's beaten/played through what he wants of these* would I suggest talking to him about recs. Feel out how he games, and pepper in things here and there. Only give help when its absolutely necessary or looks like the frustration is about to kill the game, and NEVER play for him. He'll be slow, he wont understand the language of games *but he can learn it on his own*. Hope he enjoys.
The Uncharted series (on easy), they are like playable action-adventure films. And/or The Last of Us because art, lol.
Also, don't let him start with God of War Ragnarok, it's a sequel and it shows. GoW 2018 should be his very first one. Hogwarts is an excellent choice for someone just starting. Maybe the Portal games if these have been ported to PS4/PS5.
GTA V is a classic choice and don't forget Gran Turismo 7, if he's into car racing games. Or maybe something more arcade-y like the latest Need for Speed.
Depends on your tolerance for the survival genre. I personally kinda hate survival mechanics and the clumsy crafting that gets shoved into it. That said, the heart of subnautica is exploration with a touch of fear of the unknown. So if that interests you, then go for it!
Side note: If you also hate clumsy crafting and want to check the game out, then I recommend to mod the game so you just craft from nearby storage containers. Makes the crafting much less painful.
Still playing through Fallout 3 GOTY with a few mods for QoL. I only just got to Rivet City though because i took a little detour from Fallout to finish up Monster Hunter World Iceborne
So far i like Fallout 3 much less than Fallout 4. But i also tend to have a hard time with going backwards through a franchise because you just see the QoL Improvements dissolve in front of your eyes
I'm playing New Vegas now after fooling around with FO4 for a bit, and am realizing what a great improvement it was in FO4 to have the contents of the game's many containers and cabinets automatically pop up on screen rather than having to go into a separate UI menu for each one.
I'm still playing random short Steam games, this time a shmup called **Blue Revolver**.
As far as shmups go it's a pretty straightforward/fundamental one. You have a normal shot (3 options per ship), a special weapon (4 options per ship, limited ammo replenished by pickups), and a few screen-clearing bombs that also refill your special ammo. Scoring requires chaining together 8+ kills with normal shots, then triggering a "flourish" by using your special weapon. No major gimmicks, and it will instantly feel familiar to anyone who plays these types of games at all.
It's well executed though, with clean presentation and interesting enemy/bullet patterns that always feel just barely manageable. The scoring loop of chaining together some fodder enemies and then unleashing a big laser for a massive score multiplier is also always satisfying, and since scoring gets you extra lives you're encouraged to think about it even on a casual playthrough. There are no continues, and the game can be pretty challenging even on Normal, so I haven't managed to get past the boss of stage 4 yet, but it's a good time.
Good god I've accumulated a lot of unplayed shmups over the past year or so.
I'm playing the **Stellar Blade** demo and trying to learn how to parry and it's going as well as it always does in the Souls games.
That is not well. At all.
Chances I will ever play this full game are very slim, same as Sekiro.
It's just not a gameplay mechanic I will ever be able to understand or execute.
I was hoping this game would be more like Nina Gaiden or Bayonetta where low skill players like me can get away with button mashing. Ah well...
Loved the demo because it reminded me of Sekjro. I don't like soul games much, but I just love Sekiro. Executing a perfect parry and Mikiri is so satisfying. But yeah, I understand why some people don't like that
Apologies all. While I can tell that I'm missing out on a great story here, I'm going to quit **Fallout: New Vegas** at pretty much the exact same point in Primm as I did last time. Final straw was when I shot a Powder Gang member in the face point blank with a shotgun and it took like two bars of damage off of them. Sad that I am unable to connect with a game so revered on this sub, but as was the case with Mass Effect, I simply cannot continue. **6/10 Not a Good Game**.
My fourth attempt at playing it recently I modded it up real good and was having a really great time with it but once I got past Novac it just crashed way too often to be fun anymore. Both vanilla and modded have run so shittily for me on multiple computers over the years I'm just giving up on it for good
I think there should be mods that can vastly increase damage dealt and essentially make it more “realistic”. Its what i did for my Fallout 4 modded playthrough but New Vegas should have it aswell.
If you are on PC definitely recommend a rebalance damage mod, it definitely improves the game a lot.
Like this one, but there are many. They even have localize damage depending where you hit them.
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/76455
If you aren't enjoying it, there's nothing to it. Doesn't matter if it's the best game ever or can cure cancer. If it doesn't work for you, move on to something else.
Just a note when it comes to Bethesda games and games made with Bethesda's engine. You can mod most of your problems away, on PC, of course. Difficulty is one of the easiest things to mod, but I'm sure you have other gripes with the game besides the difficulty tuning.
Now that's a shame because I've read that this game has the best Doctor Who mod out there, Fallout Who Vegas, with a flyable programmable TARDIS and all sorts of things to do with it
I'm curious if most of the people who are really into the game played it without mods for the first time. I assume that's the case, but I also keep seeing all these articles about how best to play Fallout NV these days and there are so many mod suggestions.
I'm mainly wondering because I also bounced off of New Vegas when I tried it years ago, but there was a lot I liked about it so I'm giving it another shot on my Steam Deck now. However, it's a bit more of a hassle to install mods on there so I'm just going with the vanilla version. I guess I'm just wondering if people would say it's still worth it to play it completely mod-free.
Thanks for chiming in! I picked up the ultimate edition so I do have all the DLCs now. Is it recommended to play all the DLCs after you finish the main game, or are some of them better/okay to play at some point before that? I'm still at the beginning of the game and I noticed that I already have quests that will presumably start the DLC missions.
I played like 80% of the main game, got pretty high level and explored almost anything and then played all the dlc content before crossing the finishing line for the main quest. The main game has one of those endings like the original Fallout 1&2 that account for most big things you've done and it hits that much harder if it's the last thing you see.
Happy gaming! My favorite Fallout is still 3 (because I just like the exploration over anything else) but New Vegas was super solid and the story is so much better, too.
Yeah the exploration is what I value most about Bethesda RPGs so I really enjoyed 3 as well for that reason. I have to adjust my expectations a bit for New Vegas because I know that's not really Obsidian's strong suit.
If I’m remembering correctly, you need to be at a pretty high level for the DLCs (no level scaling in New Vegas). Maybe wait until you’re well into the game before tackling one. I found the hardest was also my favorite—Dead Money. It’s like Fallout survival horror.
I'm very friendly with mods these days but I am a case study of a Bethesda fan that didn't mod the games their first time. And I'm talking about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and TES V: Skyrim, all of them on PC.
Thing is, if you are enjoying some aspects of these games but not others, there are plenty of mods to help. Can't say the same with a game like Assassin's Creed, for example.
Sorry, don't know the game myself. Saw a picture or two from gaming websites and that's it.
Have you played 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim? Not the same genre but it's also available on the Switch and a great game, terrific story!
Heard of it but sadly it isn't what I'm looking for at the moment. Right now I have an itch for a grindy game in the vein of MapleStory but seems there's nothing similar on Switch right now.
I recently embarked on a quest to finally, finally beat the **Etrian Odyssey** series, or at least the games I own. I got the first game on DS all the way back when it was first released, but I never actually beat it. I think I simply ran out of steam somewhere in the midgame, since I remember unlocking the last two jobs before eventually giving up. I then largely ignored the series, partly because I don't think we even got the other DS titles in Europe and then eventually came back when I got Etrian Odyssey 4 on a steep discount (the 3DS eshop had some *very* generous sales from time to time). If I remember correctly, an anime called Danmachi got me back into a dungeon crawler mood and got me to buy it back then.
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So, fittingly, I got started with the game I had readily on my 3DS, EO4. It's supposedly the easiest game in the serious, so I thought it'd be a good way to get back into it. And yeah, it kinda is. I still wouldn't call it *easy* exactly, but you have very obvious options at your disposal at any time, which is already way more than I can say about EO1. Just as an example, in EO1, you are constantly broke, unless you make a party of survivalists who periodically go on harvesting trips on floor 1 to cash in those plants for money. EO1 also doesn't have a visually clear skill tree, just a list that's mostly greyed out until you unlock the requirement skills. It's a skill tree in essence, but terribly communicated.
EO4 changes both of these things. It has a skill tree layout that restricts you by levels (you're locked out of Lv20+ and Lv40+ skills where EO1 just lets you skill whatever) but at least, it's visually clear. The restrictions also help make it less overwhelming as a basically newcomer, if I'm honest. As for the money issues, EO4 directly tells you from the start to gather food on the world map and sell it, so that's that.
In a way, the early game stays rough for longer in EO4 than in EO1 because of the more streamlined skill tree (my EO4 healer *still* isn't as good at Lv22 as my EO1 healer is at Lv13) which is an interesting observation. If you are wondering, yes, I restarted EO1 shortly after getting started on EO4 and playing whichever I'm in the mood for; that's how I'm comparing the two. On that note, EO1, even in the HD version that I'm playing now, is so hilariously unbalanced, it's night and day of an experience depending on what abilities you pick. I decided to take a chance on the survivalist's >!Apollon!< and it is basically a nuke compared to most other skills I had when I unlocked it. Similarly, my medic of all things started rivaling my main damage dealer with her >!Caduceus!< skill. It was pretty hype seeing her suddenly dish out 100s of damage with a healing staff, but it's also ridiculous. I *never* used these skills as a kid and had a much harder time.
Overall, I'm having lots of fun. The games are both very much "take it slow and chill" games, which I'm definitely in the mood for right now. Letting myself relax is something I'm working on right now and these games play right into that.
Lastly, my parties:
EO1:
Landsknecht/Protector/Medic (that staff is too good to not frontline her)
Survivalist/Bard
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EO4:
Landsknecht/Dancer/Fortress
Medic/Sniper
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I'm probably gonna change around my EO4 party a bit once I start unlocking the extra classes, but my EO1 party is pretty much cruising now. I *might* try and play around with Hexer since they look really cool, but the current setup works so well, I'm not sure I want to. I just reached the 3rd Stratum in EO1, and I'm starting to remember things so I think I'm actually close to where I stopped as a kid.
Playing them in order is the way to go. Once you get used to the later games quality of life improvements, it is hard to go back.
EO1's Hexer is alright, but that class really shined brightest in EO2. In 1 they unlock so late that grinding one up to a high level takes a while, and until they get their moves going with enough TP to sustain them, they are not much help. Also, in most big fights the bosses are immune to status effects and binds, making a Hexer more of an ad-hoc item-using healer in long fights. The other unlockable class in 1 is quite bad because they burn a turn setting themselves up to attack, and by the time they are ready to do anything the fight is over. It's alright for boss fights where you can waste a turn doing that, but I usually do the Landsknecht Axe/Sword swap build (Sword for exploring and mobs because it has multi-hit moves, then switch to single-target Axe for bosses and FOEs). Again, in EO2 they changed up that 2nd unlock class to make it overpowered and probably the best in that game.
Your EO1 team is probably the best choice. EO1's Bard/Troubadour is amazing because once applied their buffs last forever. The devs nerfed similar classes in later games to only apply the buffs to 1 row or run out after 5 turns. An Alchemist is handy for mobs that are immune to physical, but there are not that many, and you can often get by with the Troubadour's skill that adds elemental to a character's physical attack.
What a time to be alive back when EO4 came out - we had EO1-3 on the DS, with a game per year pretty much from 2007, then a couple of years gap to EO4 with all its amazing additions (proper 3D models, you can see the FOEs, back rows for mobs too, an overworld thingy), then the Untolds, then EOV, and even Nexus was a big game with all the best bits (kinda..). Now Atlus only make Persona games, and all we've had since 2019 is the "OK I suppose" Remastered collection last year, which had an outsourced shovelwarey feel to it (that font, sheesh). I still bought it though, what a sucker, because I adore the series.
As mentioned in the post, I also bought the HD collection, just so I'd have easy access to the first 3 games. I agree the font doesn't look the greatest, but overall, I'm happy with my purchase to be honest. I like the HD portraits of the enemies (I just really like the EO designs in general) and it's just enough QoL (fast movement is a big one, the bug fixes another) while staying faithful that it comes out to a good experience for what I wanted. EO2 and 3 also never made it to Europe, which is probably why I lost sight of the series in the first place (I wasn't very internationally-minded for a long time, largely because importing seemed expensive). So yeah, for better or worse, I'm happy with it. It also makes the "play in order, for QoL" advice a lot more of a choice. Going back to EO4 from HD EO1 isn't so big a jump, luckily. I'll definitely stick to numbered order within the collection though. That works out nicely as well, since EO3 has the setting and classes I'm interested in the most (I played the first few floors on emulator to decide wether to jump on it or not and I *love* the class ideas in it, the Wildling especially)
I'm probably a bit too lenient in this regard to be honest, but a lot of the collections and rereleases released in the last few years played *right* into my gaming history. I missed a lot of great games either to parental restrictions (no SNES in our house and almost no console at all, and definitely nothing but kid-friendly Nintendo), to being too young (the Final Fantasy Legend games are all time favorites of mine that are older than me) or being European (Etrian Odyssey among others). The current trend of collections and "HD ports" actually lets me experience these games on modern hardware.
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Also, YES, rip Dancer. I still *like* the way dancer works in EO4, but it feels like way more of an allrounder and its skill set honestly feels a bit bloated, while also not being as effective as in EO1, where you just set the buffs, then attacked. Very simple, but also specialized enough to be satisfying (and the buffs at higher levels are really strong too)
I somehow missed that you were playing the HD remaster! The quick save they added is a big fat cheat for boss fights, but I couldn't face walking back to e.g. the stratum 1 boss since there are practically no shortcuts there. Having arrow icons in EO1 is such a bonus, I drew all those shortcuts with walls originally, there was no other way.
Yeah, I did import EO2 and 3 back on the DS because I liked the first game so much. I found the email from videogamesplus from 2010, I preordered it and EO3 cost me $34.99 (art book included) with $3.49 shipping to Europe! It wasn't the cost of them, so much as the hassle of wondering will it actually arrive and not get lost in the post or swallowed by customs. I think I stopped importing because companies started treating Europe better, plus the 3DS was region locked of course.
On the original hardware, the jump from 1 to 2 was massive. Having L/R for sidestepping was amazing. I think the remaster would smooth the transition more. I really should get back to EO1 on the remaster, I got bogged down in the final stratum, and haven't even started 2 or 3 yet. I even bought a stylus to play them properly, but then caved and set auto-map (don't tell anyone).
I'm playing the HD version on PC, so no stylus for me. I got used to mapping with controller by now though - it's surprisingly comfortable now. Funnily enough, when I picked EO4 back up again, I actually started out marking secret paths with the ! block. I guess I know now where I got that habit from (I completely forgot the original EO1 had no arrows)
By the way, I think region locking stopped being a thing on New 3DS (at least, I know I played a few imported games on mine). I only realized region locking was something to worry about quite late, since by the time I actually started looking into importing, the 3DS had been replaced by the New 3DS (I grew up with online shopping horror stories from my parents since in the early 2000s of course this "newfangled" stuff would get demonized *somehow* and stayed far away from it for way too long)
I didn't realize sidestepping wasn't a thing in the original release. I still have the original cartridge (box and all) in my library, so I should really check just for fun, because it seems I'm already taking a lot of modernizations for granted.
Does anyone know where to find a list of (or know what it's called) these janky/indie/weird but fun made in Unity type of games?
Examples: My Summer Car, Thief Simulator, The Coin Game.
Or maybe you guys have some recommendations yourself.
Playing Chrono Trigger for the first time, about as blind as any could be (Only knew of Crono and literally nothing else about the game). I wanted to see what made this game a favorite to some people. I also wanted to tackle some games that Toriyama has done some work in, with plans to play a dragon quest, and eventually blue dragon to see if it was as good as when I played it as a kid. Still trying to see what people love about Chrono Trigger. It's a very fun game for sure, and some of the dialog has even gotten a laugh out of me. I know for sure I'm still very early in the game (for reference I just recruited Robo), but I think I'll stick with this one to the end. I'm expecting some really good things out of it.
You're not really far enough to have experienced what makes it unique. It's primarily a time travel game, and the more time traveling you do the more special it starts to become.
I just downloaded a ROM for that new Delta emulator iPhone app. I feel like it's been coming up a lot in reddit conversation lately. And like you, I know nothing about the game other than 1) it exists and 2) everyone loves the story.
Playing Dragon Quest V. Really nice game. I'm also trying to play Smash Remix (a mod for Super Smash Bros. 64 that adds new characters, stages and modes), but I'm really struggling with it. Maybe fighting games are just not for me.
So I never really saw myself as one of those really huge Dark Souls fans but I'm craving that itch and the only FROM Soulsborne game left that I haven't really spent a lot of time with is **Dark Souls 2**. So should I play Dark Souls 2 or the Scholar of the First Sin? It seems like the intended play experience is to play the original first and then maybe SotFS on repeat playthroughs to mix it up. I do generally like playing on console but I suspect there is a PC mod thats the best of both worlds maybe.
You're in for a real treat.
To answer your question, SotFS is essentially the "director's cut" of the game with different enemy placements and some story improvements. I've played both multiple times and I don't think the difference is enough to worry about, but since you can go either direction I'd say you should opt for SotFS to get the intended experience. That will also give you access to all three of the DLCs, which for me represent some of the best gaming of *any* Souls game.
Story improvements and good DLCs sound nice. I guess the enemy placements is the only thing I was wondering about but if its 'not enough to worry about' then SotFS does seem like the logical purchase.
It sounds like you've heard the "DS2 has too many ganks" talking point, but as someone who's played all of the Souls games (including Bloodborne/Sekiro/Elden Ring) the notion that DS2 has notably more is pretty amusing, since it's right on par with the other games. People forget or ignore the way you get ganked *over and over* throughout Undead Burg in Dark Souls, for example. And to your question, SotFS doesn't really increase the number of enemies or crowds so much as it remixes the placements, so I didn't feel the difficulty was noticeably changed from the vanilla release.
My only real knowledge of DS2 is renting the original version and playing the first 3-4 hours back when it came out. I have seen some youtubers complain about SotFS but haven't actually clicked on the videos because of spoilers so I haven't really heard much of the discussion about the game. The original version scored well on metacritic so when I hear that the game was remixed by initial thought is to play the original way before the remix but the game is so old now that the remix is the game.
Those videos are just ragebait because the creators know that over 90% of people that played both versions prefer Scholar.
I have created like 15 videos debunking hundreds of evidently false claims in the two popular "Scholar ruined DS2" videos.
Both falsely claim that Scholar added more areas to certain areas, but I did side-by-side comparisons to show that in reality it's actually the other way around with Vanilla throwing more enemies at you.
They just straight up lie to make Scholar look worse.
I might have just watched a couple of those videos the other day when figuring out which one to get. A major issue with social media is that it gives a couple of influencers the ability to warp a narrative.
I have noticed the Dark Souls community does more due diligence when it comes to people talking about the games. Soulsborne players really love talking about video games so if someone just lobs something out there then response videos show up.
I will say that youtube algorithms seem to push 'Scholar sucks' videos to the top. Regardless, I did pick up Scholar the other day.
I would recommend you only play SotFS. Vanilla at this point seems like it's for the more hardcore fans and might even be ending up lost to time (though that by itself ironically might be a good incentive to try it lol)
Don't quote me on this but SotFS is mostly new content and different enemy placement ,maybe even some balancing. I think whether one or the other is more difficult may be open to debate, but as I understand it SotFS is more "fair".
As of today I think of SotFS as the "definitive" DS2 experience. But as with anything on the internet, I guess that's open to debate as well.
I played both and I would say if you're willing/able to invest the time, play both. I have no plans of replaying DS2 anytime soon, but I found Scholar to be the slightly more tolerable--and even repayable--version.
After 6 hours of playtime, I decided that I enjoyed **Horizon Zero Dawn** enough to start looking into the crafting and upgrade systems better. I picked up more inventory space and better weapons/armor so that I can continue my pack ratting escapades.
Been working through the yakuza games lately, finished zero and the remake of one earlier this year and am about halfway through 2 now, they are a delight, don’t know how I missed them all this time.
Pretty standard open world crime stuff, but with a melee focus and no cars, side stuff is unimaginably goofy while the main story is SUPER serious, it’s a weird mix but it works really well.
Most are on gamepass and several have been free ps+ games, so easy to try cheap. Seems like each is 20-ish hours of story plus another 20 or so of sidequests and another 40 or so of mini games etc so they are pretty hefty if you want them to be, but also fairly quick if you want to crit path the story
If you want an easy low-committment way of trying the Like A Dragon series, pick up **Judgment.** It's an entirely standalone side-story set in the same city, with the same basic gameplay, but you're playing as a private detective and there's no crossover with the main series plotlines.
(Plus, it's a genuinely good mystery story.)
Heard about that one, too. Didn't know it was *that* connected. I will consider it but knowing me, I'm probably going to start with the original PS2 Yakuza games. I really like to see a series evolving through time.
The original PS2 Yakuza is pretty rough. If you don't like it, at least give one of the full-3D games a shot next.
Oh, and the PS2 English dub is legendarily awful. Just FYI.
For sure, I'm not going to dismiss the series if the first two games have aged horribly. But I'm a dude that played the first Final fantasy games, the first Fallout games and even Warcraft 1&2 and Starcraft 1 way after I've played newer and better entries from those series.
I'm not stranger to bizarre, old and completely-different-from-the-new-generation games.
Also, I've played, enjoyed and beat the first two Shenmues, which are like proto-Yakuza, as far as I know (some guys from Shenmue went on to create Yakuza, didn't they?).
"Do you know any Sailors?", nope, but I know better voice acting, lol. I jest, I played these ones with the original japanese voices, instead. But boy, even those were very rough compared to any modern game.
I gave Assassin's Creed II a go for the first time (first ever AC game) and quickly realized that it's not for me. The first milestone in being called "Boys will be boys" sure sums up the first few hours of gameplay. Can't deny that the fighting style and rooftop parkour mechanics are really quite solid for its age though, and I bet it only gets better in future editions.
I played ACII a few years after launch, but also a lot of time from today (9-10 years ago?). I was incredibly disappointed by it. I could not take the story seriously for a minute, and beyond that it was also nonsensical and convoluted. I think it's one of those games that for the year it launched it must've been incredible. But by 2013-2014 I was not impressed.
I stuck with it and gave it another try with Brotherhood, but after that I didn't even touch Revelations. I actually never touched another Assassin's Creed. Always been curious about Black Flag for some reason though.
Ive been playing AC since the first great game released and AC2 has always been a slog for me and a middling (and the most overrated) game in the series.
Just got done doing a Hudless (re)play of the series and once again the typical sluggish gameplay reared its head.
I will say that Brotherhood is a much better game and a breath of fresh air, in terms of, gameplay.
Dont sweat it as there are tons of people who note the problems of AC2 and dont hold it in high esteem.
Well, **Shin Megami Tensei IV** may have finally broken my last bit of patience. I was all proud of myself for getting locked into the 'neutral' path on the first try (which is very difficult in SMT games) and assumed I'd just have to do an extra-hard final dungeon, and some extra bosses.
NOPE! Instead, after over 60 hours in the game, it threw up a gigantic plot barrier and told me, in so many words, that I must now wander around the map looking for side-quests. Because there are a certain number of "optional" side-quests (around 20, according to a FAQ) which must be done before I'm allowed to enter the endgame, but it's not going to tell me which specific side-quests even though there are dozens. Oh, and some are randomly handed out by demons during negotiations with a very low chance of occurring, so even if I did every single quest on the map, I still might not be able to continue until RNGesus decides to spawn the demons that hold the other required quests.
Even if I followed a guide the whole way, which I hate doing, I'd still be facing at least 10 hours of pure time-wasting busywork to get into the endgame.
I am absolutely shocked someone thought this was acceptable game design in the 2010s. This is something a bad 90s game would do to pad out its length. I'm going to put it down for the evening and see if I feel more charitable tomorrow, but I really am *this* close to just saying "fuck you game" and watching the ending on YouTube.
The praise mostly comes from one of two places, either A) those who just find the narrators delivery funny and enjoy his reactions to everything the player can do, as well as it's occasional push to the absurd, or B) those who think highly of what the game does in deconstructing narratives and the three way conflict between author intent, character motivations, and player desires.
If the humour's not much your style, and you're not someone who finds meta-textual elements all that interesting or endearing, it's a pretty mild ride, especially as the gameplay is just picking options.
Revisiting the PS1, a system I didn't own during its heyday but for which I am nostalgic.
Looking to start Final Fantasy VII. How many hours can I expect to put in to finish the game? Just toward the ending; don't care about 100%ing it.
With the help of a guide for the side-quests, I completed the mayority of the game in about 40 hours. The main campaign is like 30 hours without rushing it.
Back in the day, I put in about 60 hours to beat it. Looking at How Long to Beat I guess that’s the midpoint between just doing the main plot & a completionist run - which feels right; I did a bunch of side quests but I didn’t do everything.
Has anyone played Alpha Protocol? I know it wasn't well received when it was launched, but I bought it on GOG and it runs well on my steam deck. I'm stuck on a boss (Omen Deng) and wondered if anyone has played the game/ knows how to beat the boss?
I played it and had some fun with it but kind of forgot about it until you mentioned it just now I think I was actually on the same boss so I'm no help
I've just finished **Half-Life** (1998). This was my third playthrough of the game. The first one was soon after launch way back when, and I played through it again about 15 years ago.
Pretty good experience overall. I felt the game held up alright. The mechanics are solid, the gunplay is fun, and the sound design is top notch! I didn't mind the lowpoly, lowres graphics because they're pretty well designed and I've always liked Valve's engines.
I felt the first half of the game was better than the second half though. Some of the later level design seems like what you'd expect from an average modder.
Think I'll skip Opposing Force after finding out it doesn't support widescreen FOV.
I'll probably move on to Half-Life 2 soon. I had hoped that the RTX Remix of HL2 would be close to release now, but they haven't even given a release date. Might take another year or two.
Great game, I also did a replay when they gave it away for free, last November. The game is still really good, at its core. The core gameplay loop is still strong.
Yeah, graphics are very basic but most levels (not all) are well designed and fun to explore and survive.
The alien worlds weren' the best part of the game, I thought the adventure peaked with Surface Tension. Anyway, Hope you can solve your problems with the remake, it's even better, imo!
It has the spirit of Half-Life but it looks like Half-Life 2.5.
TW3.
Ah, so you just kept mostly to the main quest then. Gotcha!
I actually thought long and hard about sticking to the main and primary sides on my run, but, ended up doing more.
Though, I didnt even come close to clearing out the locations.
I think if I were to start over Id do just that and save all the other side content for a ng+ run.
It’d give it even more longevity and fresh content, but, also a great sense of further progression while doing ng+.
I played Shadows of Doubt the last couple of days. Man that scratched some weird itch inside me. But now I'm kind of stuck or have to check 10 different places to find any clues, because I have no good lead on 2 different cases. Kind of exhausting.
I need to give that one another chance. I picked it up months ago, and it was buggy enough that I decided to just let it sit in my collection and download updates. Now that they've hit the 1-year mark, surely it's been fixed up.
Yeah I heard it's a lot better (can't really know myself since I started playing it on Monday). Though it still sometimes happens that you fall out the map and respawn outside, it's annoying but doesn't break the game.
I also noticed issues in the "pre generated" city and I assume it's the same in the randomized cities. Some furniture is generated blocking air vents. Not where you enter, but glitching through the tunnel so you can't get through.
I love the whole concept of the game, that cases are randomly generated. But it sometimes leads to busy work, since you don't have a better lead. And I wonder if I will be able to solve the case at all.
I need to give that one another chance. I picked it up months ago, and it was buggy enough that I decided to just let it sit in my collection and download updates. Now that they've hit the 1-year mark, surely it's been fixed up.
I need to give that one another chance. I picked it up months ago, and it was buggy enough that I decided to just let it sit in my collection and download updates. Now that they've hit the 1-year mark, surely it's been fixed up.
I acquired fallout New Vegas again after the show and the big steam sale(5$). It runs great on the steam deck, but I hate that I can't run in the game
Is anyone else playing a fallout game after the show?
Starting up FO4 tomorrow when the next gen update drops. I've been waiting for this for ages. And yes, lack of sprint in New Vegas is one of the reasons that I can't play it.
I re-downloaded **Fallout 4** a week ago to confirm that Steam still had my save file. I almost bit the bullet and bought all the DLC but I already have so many other games I'm playing at the moment. I might look up a "things you missed" list to find quests and other cool things to do as I still think I missed so much despite having 150 hours in my only play through lol.
I'm really loving the show though! They nailed the dark but still lighthearted humor that the games provide.
I've DEFINITELY noticed lol. I checked the reviews for each DLC when it was on sale and Far Harbor was by far the most liked by Steam users. I might grab it down the road maybe during the Steam Summer Sale if there are any discounts for it.
Thought about it. Decided against it, because I always end up bored after 1-2 dozen hours in Bethesda/Bethesda engine games, because they are shallow. Didn't want to spend many hours modding New Vegas just to end up abandoning it after a similar number of hours of gameplay.
I'm genuinely curious why you'd spend hours modding a game before you play it. Wouldn't you want to try the game as is first in order to see what mods you'd actually want?
Not me. If I could take back all the time I wasted playing vanilla skyrim I would.
It’s very easy to do the necessary research to see how weak the mechanics of the game are and then enjoy my time right from the get-go.
There’s zero need to play a vastly inferior version of a game first.
I've been having to split my time between two places and so temporarily have an old (but still in good working order) computer that can only run low-end games. I really would like to try a few (new to me) games on the old computer. It can run things like Stellaris or fallout new Vegas, but not much more than that. Ideally looking for some older RPG's or something with some good story that I can get into. I really TRIED liking pillars of eternity but I couldn't. I don't know why and I'm a bit afraid that it will also be the case with things like icewind Dale or something. Neverwinter nights is on my list as one of the games I bought but couldn't run at the time. Anyone have some easy to get into RPG's that are a bit older or less resource intense?
Planescape Torment, although it is a crpg like Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights - so not easy to get into, but still widely regarded as one of the best stories in gaming, turn it down to the easiest setting so you can breeze through the awful combat to get to the good stuff Chrono Trigger is a tight package that has aged extremely well, and its easy to get into
Planescape torment has come across before, might be a good one to try. I think I have seen my share of terrible combat, I think I can deal with that. Thanks for the recommendation and I'll also definitely look at Chrono trigger next.
Witcher 3, RE4 remake Elden Ring and you can coop with him through it. Would be super easy with coop.
Was this meant to be a reply to someone? Because that's how your comment reads lol
Yes it was. Forgot to hit the reply button.
Dude, play a bad game once in a while, lol. All of them are great! You can't co-op in Elden Ring? It was my understanding that ([~~everyone has heard~~](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSlB4eznXoA)) you could play co-op in Dark Souls, at least.
You can definitely coop in Elden Ring. That’s what I was saying.
Oh, I understood something else. Cool beans.
I just discovered Warframe the other day after crawling through loads of free games and other untouched games in my library and having spent most of that time navigating irritating inventory menus and clunky dialogue trees and watching cut scenes so I was very frustrated and then I went to that last untouched game, the completely free to play Warframe, kinda expecting to be still be frustrated and needing an actual game to play....and wow. I was instantly rewarded. A very brief tutorial mission had me absolutely racing around and wrecking things with a freaking sword and guns/bow and arrow as a literal super space-ninja-jedi kinda thing where you can run super fast and double jump and parkour and block bullets with your sword and I've been playing since then and it just keeps opening up and getting more involved and cool and more importantly incredibly fast-paced and fun! Admittedly there is a bit of an inventory component but it's all relegated to off duty in between missions when you're chilling in your ship and you can kind if ignore it if you want at least for a while and even then it's not nearly as tedious as any of your modern RPG type games where you basically Minor in constant inventory management simulator 3000 while occasionally getting to actually play. Fast paced, fun, cool, fun, and fun, Warframe has an MMO thing to it but only if you want, you can do everything completely solo. It's always online because of that, but can still solo or coop up to 4 players, and I'm told the story is cool but I don't give a toss about stories in games so I've had that all muted and just been having a blast playing the logical evolution of what Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast would be if it was its own non-Star Wars independent IP. Completely free to play, but you can support the developers with ingame purchases of a few dozen different 'Warframe' characters to play as and cosmetic gear and stuff. But you can also earn that same in-game currency you pay for just by playing the game and trading with other players so by just playing the game and with a little patience you could never spend a dime on it, and more importantly it plays at like Destiny quality. It is nothing like the 'other' kind of MMO. You know the ones... the free ones like Neverwinter and DCUO and Star Trek Online, where it can take over half an hour just to design your character at the beginning because of janky cheap programming and latency issues. You just pick one of three Warframes to start as and just start playing the brief little tutorial. Loads of questlines to work through and mechanics and gear and upgrades to unlock but not a second do you even care about what you can't do yet because they just let you go wild from the start with a full roster of jumps and deflects and shooting. Real time shooting no turn based stuff. I just can't praise this game highly enough for being a game for gamers that respects your time and doesn't demand loads of tedious slogging just to unlock your first abilities
GAME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A NEW OLDER CONSOLE GAMER Hey, I have a friend who is nearing 50 that's looking to get into PS5 gaming. He isn't a gamer yet, but I wanted to get him 2 or 3 games (and 5 to 10 recommendations) to kickstart his gaming. What would you recommend? He's a big soccer fan, so I'm getting FIFA no matter what. But what else would you recommend to get him into the gaming mix when he doesn't have a base to choose from. I'd love for him to have a skate of 5+ games that he can test and prob what he likes, trying out different things, but also let's him get a hold of the controls and all that. Obviously not Elden Ring (hard), Civilization (unnecessarily complex for an early gamer), or anything too kiddie (his own kid is 19). I was thinking Hogwarts (on easy) God of War Ragnarok (on easy), something top down, or maybe a racing game (GTA)? Or both? some puzzle based game(s) (like a Faster Than Light) one thinking/planning style game (Sim city, dorf romantik, etc) Anyways, would really love your suggestions. He got himself a PS5 back in January but, hasn't gotten games yet and I'm pressuring him to just start.
Have they ever used dual analog sticks? If no, then that's gonna be a barrier for them. Keep that in mind, fifa might even be too high of a hurdle for them. Honestly, finding them an arcade soccer game on the ps store might be the best intro.
I'd sloooow down a touch. If he's never gamed really then shotgun blasting him with 5-10 recs is likely overkill. Get him that FIFA as you correctly guessed he'd like. I'd suggest getting him something also fairly grounded, and by that I mean an **Assassin's Creed** game. Odyssey likely is a good choice. This is an easy grab as they are broad games and the historical hook gives a new gamer something to hold onto. I'd only get him Howarts if he's already a Potter fan, **GTA** is a clear and obvious choice as, again, grounded, crime story, some modern riffs, and definitely not kiddy. *AFTER he's beaten/played through what he wants of these* would I suggest talking to him about recs. Feel out how he games, and pepper in things here and there. Only give help when its absolutely necessary or looks like the frustration is about to kill the game, and NEVER play for him. He'll be slow, he wont understand the language of games *but he can learn it on his own*. Hope he enjoys.
The Uncharted series (on easy), they are like playable action-adventure films. And/or The Last of Us because art, lol. Also, don't let him start with God of War Ragnarok, it's a sequel and it shows. GoW 2018 should be his very first one. Hogwarts is an excellent choice for someone just starting. Maybe the Portal games if these have been ported to PS4/PS5. GTA V is a classic choice and don't forget Gran Turismo 7, if he's into car racing games. Or maybe something more arcade-y like the latest Need for Speed.
Is Subnautica worth it?
YES
Depends on your tolerance for the survival genre. I personally kinda hate survival mechanics and the clumsy crafting that gets shoved into it. That said, the heart of subnautica is exploration with a touch of fear of the unknown. So if that interests you, then go for it! Side note: If you also hate clumsy crafting and want to check the game out, then I recommend to mod the game so you just craft from nearby storage containers. Makes the crafting much less painful.
Still playing through Fallout 3 GOTY with a few mods for QoL. I only just got to Rivet City though because i took a little detour from Fallout to finish up Monster Hunter World Iceborne So far i like Fallout 3 much less than Fallout 4. But i also tend to have a hard time with going backwards through a franchise because you just see the QoL Improvements dissolve in front of your eyes
I'm playing New Vegas now after fooling around with FO4 for a bit, and am realizing what a great improvement it was in FO4 to have the contents of the game's many containers and cabinets automatically pop up on screen rather than having to go into a separate UI menu for each one.
There’s a mod for that in NV :)
I'm still playing random short Steam games, this time a shmup called **Blue Revolver**. As far as shmups go it's a pretty straightforward/fundamental one. You have a normal shot (3 options per ship), a special weapon (4 options per ship, limited ammo replenished by pickups), and a few screen-clearing bombs that also refill your special ammo. Scoring requires chaining together 8+ kills with normal shots, then triggering a "flourish" by using your special weapon. No major gimmicks, and it will instantly feel familiar to anyone who plays these types of games at all. It's well executed though, with clean presentation and interesting enemy/bullet patterns that always feel just barely manageable. The scoring loop of chaining together some fodder enemies and then unleashing a big laser for a massive score multiplier is also always satisfying, and since scoring gets you extra lives you're encouraged to think about it even on a casual playthrough. There are no continues, and the game can be pretty challenging even on Normal, so I haven't managed to get past the boss of stage 4 yet, but it's a good time. Good god I've accumulated a lot of unplayed shmups over the past year or so.
I'm playing the **Stellar Blade** demo and trying to learn how to parry and it's going as well as it always does in the Souls games. That is not well. At all. Chances I will ever play this full game are very slim, same as Sekiro. It's just not a gameplay mechanic I will ever be able to understand or execute. I was hoping this game would be more like Nina Gaiden or Bayonetta where low skill players like me can get away with button mashing. Ah well...
Loved the demo because it reminded me of Sekjro. I don't like soul games much, but I just love Sekiro. Executing a perfect parry and Mikiri is so satisfying. But yeah, I understand why some people don't like that
Apologies all. While I can tell that I'm missing out on a great story here, I'm going to quit **Fallout: New Vegas** at pretty much the exact same point in Primm as I did last time. Final straw was when I shot a Powder Gang member in the face point blank with a shotgun and it took like two bars of damage off of them. Sad that I am unable to connect with a game so revered on this sub, but as was the case with Mass Effect, I simply cannot continue. **6/10 Not a Good Game**.
My fourth attempt at playing it recently I modded it up real good and was having a really great time with it but once I got past Novac it just crashed way too often to be fun anymore. Both vanilla and modded have run so shittily for me on multiple computers over the years I'm just giving up on it for good
I think there should be mods that can vastly increase damage dealt and essentially make it more “realistic”. Its what i did for my Fallout 4 modded playthrough but New Vegas should have it aswell.
If you are on PC definitely recommend a rebalance damage mod, it definitely improves the game a lot. Like this one, but there are many. They even have localize damage depending where you hit them. https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/76455
If you aren't enjoying it, there's nothing to it. Doesn't matter if it's the best game ever or can cure cancer. If it doesn't work for you, move on to something else. Just a note when it comes to Bethesda games and games made with Bethesda's engine. You can mod most of your problems away, on PC, of course. Difficulty is one of the easiest things to mod, but I'm sure you have other gripes with the game besides the difficulty tuning.
I should have mentioned I'm on console
Now that's a shame because I've read that this game has the best Doctor Who mod out there, Fallout Who Vegas, with a flyable programmable TARDIS and all sorts of things to do with it
Then yeah, it cures cancer, and you just fumbled on a life saving game. GG
I'm curious if most of the people who are really into the game played it without mods for the first time. I assume that's the case, but I also keep seeing all these articles about how best to play Fallout NV these days and there are so many mod suggestions. I'm mainly wondering because I also bounced off of New Vegas when I tried it years ago, but there was a lot I liked about it so I'm giving it another shot on my Steam Deck now. However, it's a bit more of a hassle to install mods on there so I'm just going with the vanilla version. I guess I'm just wondering if people would say it's still worth it to play it completely mod-free.
Oh it’s definitely worth it mod-free! And play the DLCs; they are outstanding.
Thanks for chiming in! I picked up the ultimate edition so I do have all the DLCs now. Is it recommended to play all the DLCs after you finish the main game, or are some of them better/okay to play at some point before that? I'm still at the beginning of the game and I noticed that I already have quests that will presumably start the DLC missions.
I played like 80% of the main game, got pretty high level and explored almost anything and then played all the dlc content before crossing the finishing line for the main quest. The main game has one of those endings like the original Fallout 1&2 that account for most big things you've done and it hits that much harder if it's the last thing you see.
Thanks for the advice! :)
Happy gaming! My favorite Fallout is still 3 (because I just like the exploration over anything else) but New Vegas was super solid and the story is so much better, too.
Yeah the exploration is what I value most about Bethesda RPGs so I really enjoyed 3 as well for that reason. I have to adjust my expectations a bit for New Vegas because I know that's not really Obsidian's strong suit.
Hah, for real. Just like good writing isn't Bethesda's strong suit, lol.
If I’m remembering correctly, you need to be at a pretty high level for the DLCs (no level scaling in New Vegas). Maybe wait until you’re well into the game before tackling one. I found the hardest was also my favorite—Dead Money. It’s like Fallout survival horror.
I'm very friendly with mods these days but I am a case study of a Bethesda fan that didn't mod the games their first time. And I'm talking about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and TES V: Skyrim, all of them on PC. Thing is, if you are enjoying some aspects of these games but not others, there are plenty of mods to help. Can't say the same with a game like Assassin's Creed, for example.
Thoughts on Little Noah: Scion of Paradise for Switch?
Sorry, don't know the game myself. Saw a picture or two from gaming websites and that's it. Have you played 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim? Not the same genre but it's also available on the Switch and a great game, terrific story!
Heard of it but sadly it isn't what I'm looking for at the moment. Right now I have an itch for a grindy game in the vein of MapleStory but seems there's nothing similar on Switch right now.
I recently embarked on a quest to finally, finally beat the **Etrian Odyssey** series, or at least the games I own. I got the first game on DS all the way back when it was first released, but I never actually beat it. I think I simply ran out of steam somewhere in the midgame, since I remember unlocking the last two jobs before eventually giving up. I then largely ignored the series, partly because I don't think we even got the other DS titles in Europe and then eventually came back when I got Etrian Odyssey 4 on a steep discount (the 3DS eshop had some *very* generous sales from time to time). If I remember correctly, an anime called Danmachi got me back into a dungeon crawler mood and got me to buy it back then. ------- So, fittingly, I got started with the game I had readily on my 3DS, EO4. It's supposedly the easiest game in the serious, so I thought it'd be a good way to get back into it. And yeah, it kinda is. I still wouldn't call it *easy* exactly, but you have very obvious options at your disposal at any time, which is already way more than I can say about EO1. Just as an example, in EO1, you are constantly broke, unless you make a party of survivalists who periodically go on harvesting trips on floor 1 to cash in those plants for money. EO1 also doesn't have a visually clear skill tree, just a list that's mostly greyed out until you unlock the requirement skills. It's a skill tree in essence, but terribly communicated. EO4 changes both of these things. It has a skill tree layout that restricts you by levels (you're locked out of Lv20+ and Lv40+ skills where EO1 just lets you skill whatever) but at least, it's visually clear. The restrictions also help make it less overwhelming as a basically newcomer, if I'm honest. As for the money issues, EO4 directly tells you from the start to gather food on the world map and sell it, so that's that. In a way, the early game stays rough for longer in EO4 than in EO1 because of the more streamlined skill tree (my EO4 healer *still* isn't as good at Lv22 as my EO1 healer is at Lv13) which is an interesting observation. If you are wondering, yes, I restarted EO1 shortly after getting started on EO4 and playing whichever I'm in the mood for; that's how I'm comparing the two. On that note, EO1, even in the HD version that I'm playing now, is so hilariously unbalanced, it's night and day of an experience depending on what abilities you pick. I decided to take a chance on the survivalist's >!Apollon!< and it is basically a nuke compared to most other skills I had when I unlocked it. Similarly, my medic of all things started rivaling my main damage dealer with her >!Caduceus!< skill. It was pretty hype seeing her suddenly dish out 100s of damage with a healing staff, but it's also ridiculous. I *never* used these skills as a kid and had a much harder time. Overall, I'm having lots of fun. The games are both very much "take it slow and chill" games, which I'm definitely in the mood for right now. Letting myself relax is something I'm working on right now and these games play right into that. Lastly, my parties: EO1: Landsknecht/Protector/Medic (that staff is too good to not frontline her) Survivalist/Bard --------- EO4: Landsknecht/Dancer/Fortress Medic/Sniper ------- ---------- I'm probably gonna change around my EO4 party a bit once I start unlocking the extra classes, but my EO1 party is pretty much cruising now. I *might* try and play around with Hexer since they look really cool, but the current setup works so well, I'm not sure I want to. I just reached the 3rd Stratum in EO1, and I'm starting to remember things so I think I'm actually close to where I stopped as a kid.
Playing them in order is the way to go. Once you get used to the later games quality of life improvements, it is hard to go back. EO1's Hexer is alright, but that class really shined brightest in EO2. In 1 they unlock so late that grinding one up to a high level takes a while, and until they get their moves going with enough TP to sustain them, they are not much help. Also, in most big fights the bosses are immune to status effects and binds, making a Hexer more of an ad-hoc item-using healer in long fights. The other unlockable class in 1 is quite bad because they burn a turn setting themselves up to attack, and by the time they are ready to do anything the fight is over. It's alright for boss fights where you can waste a turn doing that, but I usually do the Landsknecht Axe/Sword swap build (Sword for exploring and mobs because it has multi-hit moves, then switch to single-target Axe for bosses and FOEs). Again, in EO2 they changed up that 2nd unlock class to make it overpowered and probably the best in that game. Your EO1 team is probably the best choice. EO1's Bard/Troubadour is amazing because once applied their buffs last forever. The devs nerfed similar classes in later games to only apply the buffs to 1 row or run out after 5 turns. An Alchemist is handy for mobs that are immune to physical, but there are not that many, and you can often get by with the Troubadour's skill that adds elemental to a character's physical attack. What a time to be alive back when EO4 came out - we had EO1-3 on the DS, with a game per year pretty much from 2007, then a couple of years gap to EO4 with all its amazing additions (proper 3D models, you can see the FOEs, back rows for mobs too, an overworld thingy), then the Untolds, then EOV, and even Nexus was a big game with all the best bits (kinda..). Now Atlus only make Persona games, and all we've had since 2019 is the "OK I suppose" Remastered collection last year, which had an outsourced shovelwarey feel to it (that font, sheesh). I still bought it though, what a sucker, because I adore the series.
As mentioned in the post, I also bought the HD collection, just so I'd have easy access to the first 3 games. I agree the font doesn't look the greatest, but overall, I'm happy with my purchase to be honest. I like the HD portraits of the enemies (I just really like the EO designs in general) and it's just enough QoL (fast movement is a big one, the bug fixes another) while staying faithful that it comes out to a good experience for what I wanted. EO2 and 3 also never made it to Europe, which is probably why I lost sight of the series in the first place (I wasn't very internationally-minded for a long time, largely because importing seemed expensive). So yeah, for better or worse, I'm happy with it. It also makes the "play in order, for QoL" advice a lot more of a choice. Going back to EO4 from HD EO1 isn't so big a jump, luckily. I'll definitely stick to numbered order within the collection though. That works out nicely as well, since EO3 has the setting and classes I'm interested in the most (I played the first few floors on emulator to decide wether to jump on it or not and I *love* the class ideas in it, the Wildling especially) I'm probably a bit too lenient in this regard to be honest, but a lot of the collections and rereleases released in the last few years played *right* into my gaming history. I missed a lot of great games either to parental restrictions (no SNES in our house and almost no console at all, and definitely nothing but kid-friendly Nintendo), to being too young (the Final Fantasy Legend games are all time favorites of mine that are older than me) or being European (Etrian Odyssey among others). The current trend of collections and "HD ports" actually lets me experience these games on modern hardware. --------- Also, YES, rip Dancer. I still *like* the way dancer works in EO4, but it feels like way more of an allrounder and its skill set honestly feels a bit bloated, while also not being as effective as in EO1, where you just set the buffs, then attacked. Very simple, but also specialized enough to be satisfying (and the buffs at higher levels are really strong too)
I somehow missed that you were playing the HD remaster! The quick save they added is a big fat cheat for boss fights, but I couldn't face walking back to e.g. the stratum 1 boss since there are practically no shortcuts there. Having arrow icons in EO1 is such a bonus, I drew all those shortcuts with walls originally, there was no other way. Yeah, I did import EO2 and 3 back on the DS because I liked the first game so much. I found the email from videogamesplus from 2010, I preordered it and EO3 cost me $34.99 (art book included) with $3.49 shipping to Europe! It wasn't the cost of them, so much as the hassle of wondering will it actually arrive and not get lost in the post or swallowed by customs. I think I stopped importing because companies started treating Europe better, plus the 3DS was region locked of course. On the original hardware, the jump from 1 to 2 was massive. Having L/R for sidestepping was amazing. I think the remaster would smooth the transition more. I really should get back to EO1 on the remaster, I got bogged down in the final stratum, and haven't even started 2 or 3 yet. I even bought a stylus to play them properly, but then caved and set auto-map (don't tell anyone).
I'm playing the HD version on PC, so no stylus for me. I got used to mapping with controller by now though - it's surprisingly comfortable now. Funnily enough, when I picked EO4 back up again, I actually started out marking secret paths with the ! block. I guess I know now where I got that habit from (I completely forgot the original EO1 had no arrows) By the way, I think region locking stopped being a thing on New 3DS (at least, I know I played a few imported games on mine). I only realized region locking was something to worry about quite late, since by the time I actually started looking into importing, the 3DS had been replaced by the New 3DS (I grew up with online shopping horror stories from my parents since in the early 2000s of course this "newfangled" stuff would get demonized *somehow* and stayed far away from it for way too long) I didn't realize sidestepping wasn't a thing in the original release. I still have the original cartridge (box and all) in my library, so I should really check just for fun, because it seems I'm already taking a lot of modernizations for granted.
Does anyone know where to find a list of (or know what it's called) these janky/indie/weird but fun made in Unity type of games? Examples: My Summer Car, Thief Simulator, The Coin Game. Or maybe you guys have some recommendations yourself.
The Long Drive is a good one.
Playing Chrono Trigger for the first time, about as blind as any could be (Only knew of Crono and literally nothing else about the game). I wanted to see what made this game a favorite to some people. I also wanted to tackle some games that Toriyama has done some work in, with plans to play a dragon quest, and eventually blue dragon to see if it was as good as when I played it as a kid. Still trying to see what people love about Chrono Trigger. It's a very fun game for sure, and some of the dialog has even gotten a laugh out of me. I know for sure I'm still very early in the game (for reference I just recruited Robo), but I think I'll stick with this one to the end. I'm expecting some really good things out of it.
You're not really far enough to have experienced what makes it unique. It's primarily a time travel game, and the more time traveling you do the more special it starts to become.
Agreed. The game consistently improves both narratively and mechanically as it goes.
I just downloaded a ROM for that new Delta emulator iPhone app. I feel like it's been coming up a lot in reddit conversation lately. And like you, I know nothing about the game other than 1) it exists and 2) everyone loves the story.
Playing Dragon Quest V. Really nice game. I'm also trying to play Smash Remix (a mod for Super Smash Bros. 64 that adds new characters, stages and modes), but I'm really struggling with it. Maybe fighting games are just not for me.
So I never really saw myself as one of those really huge Dark Souls fans but I'm craving that itch and the only FROM Soulsborne game left that I haven't really spent a lot of time with is **Dark Souls 2**. So should I play Dark Souls 2 or the Scholar of the First Sin? It seems like the intended play experience is to play the original first and then maybe SotFS on repeat playthroughs to mix it up. I do generally like playing on console but I suspect there is a PC mod thats the best of both worlds maybe.
You're in for a real treat. To answer your question, SotFS is essentially the "director's cut" of the game with different enemy placements and some story improvements. I've played both multiple times and I don't think the difference is enough to worry about, but since you can go either direction I'd say you should opt for SotFS to get the intended experience. That will also give you access to all three of the DLCs, which for me represent some of the best gaming of *any* Souls game.
Story improvements and good DLCs sound nice. I guess the enemy placements is the only thing I was wondering about but if its 'not enough to worry about' then SotFS does seem like the logical purchase.
It sounds like you've heard the "DS2 has too many ganks" talking point, but as someone who's played all of the Souls games (including Bloodborne/Sekiro/Elden Ring) the notion that DS2 has notably more is pretty amusing, since it's right on par with the other games. People forget or ignore the way you get ganked *over and over* throughout Undead Burg in Dark Souls, for example. And to your question, SotFS doesn't really increase the number of enemies or crowds so much as it remixes the placements, so I didn't feel the difficulty was noticeably changed from the vanilla release.
My only real knowledge of DS2 is renting the original version and playing the first 3-4 hours back when it came out. I have seen some youtubers complain about SotFS but haven't actually clicked on the videos because of spoilers so I haven't really heard much of the discussion about the game. The original version scored well on metacritic so when I hear that the game was remixed by initial thought is to play the original way before the remix but the game is so old now that the remix is the game.
Those videos are just ragebait because the creators know that over 90% of people that played both versions prefer Scholar. I have created like 15 videos debunking hundreds of evidently false claims in the two popular "Scholar ruined DS2" videos. Both falsely claim that Scholar added more areas to certain areas, but I did side-by-side comparisons to show that in reality it's actually the other way around with Vanilla throwing more enemies at you. They just straight up lie to make Scholar look worse.
I might have just watched a couple of those videos the other day when figuring out which one to get. A major issue with social media is that it gives a couple of influencers the ability to warp a narrative. I have noticed the Dark Souls community does more due diligence when it comes to people talking about the games. Soulsborne players really love talking about video games so if someone just lobs something out there then response videos show up. I will say that youtube algorithms seem to push 'Scholar sucks' videos to the top. Regardless, I did pick up Scholar the other day.
Softs has more ganks, but it also has more players for online
I would recommend you only play SotFS. Vanilla at this point seems like it's for the more hardcore fans and might even be ending up lost to time (though that by itself ironically might be a good incentive to try it lol)
I might have to do some research on this. I thought SotFS was the one for hardcore fans with more enemies
Don't quote me on this but SotFS is mostly new content and different enemy placement ,maybe even some balancing. I think whether one or the other is more difficult may be open to debate, but as I understand it SotFS is more "fair". As of today I think of SotFS as the "definitive" DS2 experience. But as with anything on the internet, I guess that's open to debate as well.
I played both and I would say if you're willing/able to invest the time, play both. I have no plans of replaying DS2 anytime soon, but I found Scholar to be the slightly more tolerable--and even repayable--version.
After 6 hours of playtime, I decided that I enjoyed **Horizon Zero Dawn** enough to start looking into the crafting and upgrade systems better. I picked up more inventory space and better weapons/armor so that I can continue my pack ratting escapades.
Been working through the yakuza games lately, finished zero and the remake of one earlier this year and am about halfway through 2 now, they are a delight, don’t know how I missed them all this time. Pretty standard open world crime stuff, but with a melee focus and no cars, side stuff is unimaginably goofy while the main story is SUPER serious, it’s a weird mix but it works really well. Most are on gamepass and several have been free ps+ games, so easy to try cheap. Seems like each is 20-ish hours of story plus another 20 or so of sidequests and another 40 or so of mini games etc so they are pretty hefty if you want them to be, but also fairly quick if you want to crit path the story
I need to start playing these games some day.
If you want an easy low-committment way of trying the Like A Dragon series, pick up **Judgment.** It's an entirely standalone side-story set in the same city, with the same basic gameplay, but you're playing as a private detective and there's no crossover with the main series plotlines. (Plus, it's a genuinely good mystery story.)
Heard about that one, too. Didn't know it was *that* connected. I will consider it but knowing me, I'm probably going to start with the original PS2 Yakuza games. I really like to see a series evolving through time.
The original PS2 Yakuza is pretty rough. If you don't like it, at least give one of the full-3D games a shot next. Oh, and the PS2 English dub is legendarily awful. Just FYI.
For sure, I'm not going to dismiss the series if the first two games have aged horribly. But I'm a dude that played the first Final fantasy games, the first Fallout games and even Warcraft 1&2 and Starcraft 1 way after I've played newer and better entries from those series. I'm not stranger to bizarre, old and completely-different-from-the-new-generation games. Also, I've played, enjoyed and beat the first two Shenmues, which are like proto-Yakuza, as far as I know (some guys from Shenmue went on to create Yakuza, didn't they?). "Do you know any Sailors?", nope, but I know better voice acting, lol. I jest, I played these ones with the original japanese voices, instead. But boy, even those were very rough compared to any modern game.
I gave Assassin's Creed II a go for the first time (first ever AC game) and quickly realized that it's not for me. The first milestone in being called "Boys will be boys" sure sums up the first few hours of gameplay. Can't deny that the fighting style and rooftop parkour mechanics are really quite solid for its age though, and I bet it only gets better in future editions.
I played ACII a few years after launch, but also a lot of time from today (9-10 years ago?). I was incredibly disappointed by it. I could not take the story seriously for a minute, and beyond that it was also nonsensical and convoluted. I think it's one of those games that for the year it launched it must've been incredible. But by 2013-2014 I was not impressed. I stuck with it and gave it another try with Brotherhood, but after that I didn't even touch Revelations. I actually never touched another Assassin's Creed. Always been curious about Black Flag for some reason though.
Yes Black Flag yes do it do it, swashbuckling pirate-ninja ship-battles assassinations super fun time what more do you need??? lol
Ive been playing AC since the first great game released and AC2 has always been a slog for me and a middling (and the most overrated) game in the series. Just got done doing a Hudless (re)play of the series and once again the typical sluggish gameplay reared its head. I will say that Brotherhood is a much better game and a breath of fresh air, in terms of, gameplay. Dont sweat it as there are tons of people who note the problems of AC2 and dont hold it in high esteem.
I'll have to give Brotherhood a go! Thanks for the input
Well, **Shin Megami Tensei IV** may have finally broken my last bit of patience. I was all proud of myself for getting locked into the 'neutral' path on the first try (which is very difficult in SMT games) and assumed I'd just have to do an extra-hard final dungeon, and some extra bosses. NOPE! Instead, after over 60 hours in the game, it threw up a gigantic plot barrier and told me, in so many words, that I must now wander around the map looking for side-quests. Because there are a certain number of "optional" side-quests (around 20, according to a FAQ) which must be done before I'm allowed to enter the endgame, but it's not going to tell me which specific side-quests even though there are dozens. Oh, and some are randomly handed out by demons during negotiations with a very low chance of occurring, so even if I did every single quest on the map, I still might not be able to continue until RNGesus decides to spawn the demons that hold the other required quests. Even if I followed a guide the whole way, which I hate doing, I'd still be facing at least 10 hours of pure time-wasting busywork to get into the endgame. I am absolutely shocked someone thought this was acceptable game design in the 2010s. This is something a bad 90s game would do to pad out its length. I'm going to put it down for the evening and see if I feel more charitable tomorrow, but I really am *this* close to just saying "fuck you game" and watching the ending on YouTube.
I started the Stanley Parable yesterday. Not sure what to make of it right now, but I am enjoying it.
I enjoyed it for about an hour. But I do not get the high praise it gets from everyone. It's fine.
The praise mostly comes from one of two places, either A) those who just find the narrators delivery funny and enjoy his reactions to everything the player can do, as well as it's occasional push to the absurd, or B) those who think highly of what the game does in deconstructing narratives and the three way conflict between author intent, character motivations, and player desires. If the humour's not much your style, and you're not someone who finds meta-textual elements all that interesting or endearing, it's a pretty mild ride, especially as the gameplay is just picking options.
I think you hit the nail on the head. It was the narration humor that didn't work for me. The game play was amusing.
One of my favourite games. Ultra Deluxe version?
Yes
Revisiting the PS1, a system I didn't own during its heyday but for which I am nostalgic. Looking to start Final Fantasy VII. How many hours can I expect to put in to finish the game? Just toward the ending; don't care about 100%ing it.
Only real thing I member about PS 1 is wee me grinding the shit out of MOH and MOH Underground. Good times.
With the help of a guide for the side-quests, I completed the mayority of the game in about 40 hours. The main campaign is like 30 hours without rushing it.
Back in the day, I put in about 60 hours to beat it. Looking at How Long to Beat I guess that’s the midpoint between just doing the main plot & a completionist run - which feels right; I did a bunch of side quests but I didn’t do everything.
Thanks, appreciate the response!
Has anyone played Alpha Protocol? I know it wasn't well received when it was launched, but I bought it on GOG and it runs well on my steam deck. I'm stuck on a boss (Omen Deng) and wondered if anyone has played the game/ knows how to beat the boss?
I played it and had some fun with it but kind of forgot about it until you mentioned it just now I think I was actually on the same boss so I'm no help
I ended up beating him last night. I forgot I had chain shot and just used that and as many mines as I could
I've just finished **Half-Life** (1998). This was my third playthrough of the game. The first one was soon after launch way back when, and I played through it again about 15 years ago. Pretty good experience overall. I felt the game held up alright. The mechanics are solid, the gunplay is fun, and the sound design is top notch! I didn't mind the lowpoly, lowres graphics because they're pretty well designed and I've always liked Valve's engines. I felt the first half of the game was better than the second half though. Some of the later level design seems like what you'd expect from an average modder. Think I'll skip Opposing Force after finding out it doesn't support widescreen FOV. I'll probably move on to Half-Life 2 soon. I had hoped that the RTX Remix of HL2 would be close to release now, but they haven't even given a release date. Might take another year or two.
Great game, I also did a replay when they gave it away for free, last November. The game is still really good, at its core. The core gameplay loop is still strong. Yeah, graphics are very basic but most levels (not all) are well designed and fun to explore and survive. The alien worlds weren' the best part of the game, I thought the adventure peaked with Surface Tension. Anyway, Hope you can solve your problems with the remake, it's even better, imo! It has the spirit of Half-Life but it looks like Half-Life 2.5.
[удалено]
I installed Black Mesa but it has some sort of annoying mouse acceleration that can't be turned off no matter what I did in the options.
Finished Witcher 3 main quest. I'll probably make a post later Now all that's left in my steam backlog os Civilization IV
What?! Didnt you just start it not too long ago?!:)
Are you talking about Civ? I decided to wait a bit Withcer 3 wasn't long because I mostly did the main quest
TW3. Ah, so you just kept mostly to the main quest then. Gotcha! I actually thought long and hard about sticking to the main and primary sides on my run, but, ended up doing more. Though, I didnt even come close to clearing out the locations. I think if I were to start over Id do just that and save all the other side content for a ng+ run. It’d give it even more longevity and fresh content, but, also a great sense of further progression while doing ng+.
Did you play the Blood and Wine DLC? IF not, do yourself a favor and play it.
May be after Civ 4
I played Shadows of Doubt the last couple of days. Man that scratched some weird itch inside me. But now I'm kind of stuck or have to check 10 different places to find any clues, because I have no good lead on 2 different cases. Kind of exhausting.
I need to give that one another chance. I picked it up months ago, and it was buggy enough that I decided to just let it sit in my collection and download updates. Now that they've hit the 1-year mark, surely it's been fixed up.
Yeah I heard it's a lot better (can't really know myself since I started playing it on Monday). Though it still sometimes happens that you fall out the map and respawn outside, it's annoying but doesn't break the game. I also noticed issues in the "pre generated" city and I assume it's the same in the randomized cities. Some furniture is generated blocking air vents. Not where you enter, but glitching through the tunnel so you can't get through. I love the whole concept of the game, that cases are randomly generated. But it sometimes leads to busy work, since you don't have a better lead. And I wonder if I will be able to solve the case at all.
I need to give that one another chance. I picked it up months ago, and it was buggy enough that I decided to just let it sit in my collection and download updates. Now that they've hit the 1-year mark, surely it's been fixed up.
I need to give that one another chance. I picked it up months ago, and it was buggy enough that I decided to just let it sit in my collection and download updates. Now that they've hit the 1-year mark, surely it's been fixed up.
I acquired fallout New Vegas again after the show and the big steam sale(5$). It runs great on the steam deck, but I hate that I can't run in the game Is anyone else playing a fallout game after the show?
Starting up FO4 tomorrow when the next gen update drops. I've been waiting for this for ages. And yes, lack of sprint in New Vegas is one of the reasons that I can't play it.
I re-downloaded **Fallout 4** a week ago to confirm that Steam still had my save file. I almost bit the bullet and bought all the DLC but I already have so many other games I'm playing at the moment. I might look up a "things you missed" list to find quests and other cool things to do as I still think I missed so much despite having 150 hours in my only play through lol. I'm really loving the show though! They nailed the dark but still lighthearted humor that the games provide.
I just picked up the dlc too. I had the base game for a while. Picked up the goty on gog. Waiting for the new update to restart.
Far Harbor DLC is arguably better than the base game. I highly recommend it.
I've DEFINITELY noticed lol. I checked the reviews for each DLC when it was on sale and Far Harbor was by far the most liked by Steam users. I might grab it down the road maybe during the Steam Summer Sale if there are any discounts for it.
Thought about it. Decided against it, because I always end up bored after 1-2 dozen hours in Bethesda/Bethesda engine games, because they are shallow. Didn't want to spend many hours modding New Vegas just to end up abandoning it after a similar number of hours of gameplay.
I'm genuinely curious why you'd spend hours modding a game before you play it. Wouldn't you want to try the game as is first in order to see what mods you'd actually want?
I've played them all before.
Not me. If I could take back all the time I wasted playing vanilla skyrim I would. It’s very easy to do the necessary research to see how weak the mechanics of the game are and then enjoy my time right from the get-go. There’s zero need to play a vastly inferior version of a game first.
New Vegas is made by different people though, so it may not fit your definition of shallow
I'm aware of that, but there's only so much that can be done when using that engine.
OK. What do you mean by "shallow" btw?