Video Games General

[Velk]

I looked around for route order recommendations and saw a consensus for Moon -> Wind -> the other two. Flower's length makes it feel like more of a bonus round than a proper route, which... can be an argument both for and against playing it after Snow.

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Hm... Going back to thebrute7's post referencing it with yours, I feel like I should go Blue Lions, Black Eagles/Edelgard (toss up) and then Verdant Wind. Doesn't include the DLC Side Story, but that shouldn't matter too much as it is a side-story and thus short and to the point. I just hope there aren't t too many spoilers in said side-story.

 

[thebrute7]

Hm... Going back to thebrute7's post referencing it with yours, I feel like I should go Blue Lions, Black Eagles/Edelgard (toss up) and then Verdant Wind. Doesn't include the DLC Side Story, but that shouldn't matter too much as it is a side-story and thus short and to the point. I just hope there aren't t too many spoilers in said side-story.

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The DLC is... a bit of its own thing. I don't really suggest playing it on your first time through the game, assuming you're going to play others later. I don't think it spoils anything , but I've only played it once and don't recall for certain.

But seriously, you can play them in any order that appeals to you. There are definite arguments to be made for most orders of play, but making most of them requires spoilery knowledge of what each one does differently. I think the best way is to just go in and pick the group that most appeals to you in the moment, rather than going in with your decision already made. But that is a perfectly servicable order, and I think not playing Crimson Flower and Silver Snow back-to-back is a good choice for most people, unless you really fall in love with the Black Eagles (I did).

 

[Velk]

But that is a perfectly servicable order, and I think not playing Crimson Flower and Silver Snow back-to-back is a good choice for most people, unless you really fall in love with the Black Eagles (I did).

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Fair, even if I have no idea why. Seeing the same faces going through the same motions leads to rapid Arc Fatigue and me shelving the game.

The DLC is... a bit of its own thing. I don't really suggest playing it on your first time through the game, assuming you're going to play others later. I don't think it spoils anything , but I've only played it once and don't recall for certain.

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Again, fair. I'll probably play it after I get a handle on mechanics and things like that.

 

[Ragnarok]

I was hoping for Zelda. I did not get any Zelda.

But the Sonic 2 trailer is pretty hype!

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[Scygnus]

Control under control. 100%.

I admittedly did cheat twice- the Deadline Challenge annoyed me because the RNG fucks you more often than not- either by sending too many tanky enemies or having one of them hiding in a corner and wasting all your time trying to find it.

And my second run of Feedback Loop. After successfully taking down the easiest boss (The Anchor) and two of the hardest bosses (Former and Mold-1, and Former's only hard because I kept falling through the damn level because I can't keep track of what parts of the floor he's destroyed. Mold-1 is just plain unfair, and I could take it down 1v1 only after several tries... got lucky on my first Feedback Loop run there.) I managed to die against esseJ, despite being able to take her down easy when I did the 1v1. So the second time I turned on cheats to pass the first three, and back off again to beat up the imitator.

I did also use cheats and basic Crowd Control to get the Rush Job achievement, but that was just to save time, since it's not a hard achievement. Hunting down individual Hiss encounters would've taken forever, and doing it in Crowd Control without OHKO and Immortality turned on just invites them to gang up and melee you to death, taking a dozen more loading screens to finish.

Well, the Asynchronous Suit is still the best one anyway.

But I'm done with the game, until the sequel or Alan Wake 2 drags me back for a refresher.

 

[Raven1138]

But I'm done with the game, until the sequel or Alan Wake 2 drags me back for a refresher.

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Well, you won't have long to wait for the latter:

 

[Bear_Mint]

Alan Slep

No hype until the gameplay trailer. But at least we know it is a work in progress

 

[Scygnus]

Well, you won't have long to wait for the latter:

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Oh. Sweet. Didn't know they had a trailer. No real info so far, but it's nice and dramatic.

Alan Slep

No hype until the gameplay trailer. But at least we know it is a work in progress

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Honestly, I was going to say that for this franchise, the gameplay is less important than the story...

...but I thought back to something I was pondering some time ago and had a thought about the original Alan Wake and why it was so good despite the gameplay being relatively simplistic.

It was just after the kerfluffle with that critic arguing with people about whether games could be art- I never got involved, because it's a silly argument, but I did ponder the question.

I concluded that they were both looking at it wrong- games cannot be art in whole, but they can certainly contain it, and even excel above all existing display mediums in one important way.

Putting the appreciator into the state of mind the artist intended.

Getting the player into the head of their character, putting them behind those eyes. Joining them in beholding wonders... or, more frequently, terrors.

Alan Wake wouldn't be the story it is if the player didn't feel threatened. The enemies bring the fear out of the story and give it to you. They pull you into the story and make you feel the stakes.

But they do it in the most... minimalist way possible. There's just enough combat to keep you invested, to keep your heart racing, without having to slow down the story for gameplay. I'd say it's got a pretty perfect balance, for the kind of game it is.

 

[Raven1138]

A minor bit, but one that should make several anime fans happy. Blasphemous just released its final patch/DLC Wounds of Eventide with new items along with the promised true final chapter of the Penitent One. However, fans on the Berserk reddit made a surprising discovery:

Spoiler

Yes, The Game Kitchen included as an item a tribute to Berserk's creator the late Dr. Kentaro Muria as a rosary bead. It's good to see that Muria-sensei's work continues to inspire not just in Japan but internationally.

 

[Malcolmo]

A minor bit, but one that should make several anime fans happy. Blasphemous just released its final patch/DLC Wounds of Eventide with new items along with the promised true final chapter of the Penitent One. However, fans on the Berserk reddit made a surprising discovery:

Spoiler

Yes, The Game Kitchen included as an item a tribute to Berserk's creator the late Dr. Kentaro Muria as a rosary bead. It's good to see that Muria-sensei's work continues to inspire not just in Japan but internationally.

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I think that's a behelith too to boot.

 

[Fenrir]

So apparently an Elric of Melnibone video game got announced. On one hand this is so cool, but on the other hand it was just announced, and it could get cancelled like the Elric show that was getting made.

 

[rx915]

I like the custom marching sequence in the background.

 

[Raven1138]

If you play this Dead By Daylight Chapter, you will die in seven days...

 

[Malcolmo]

If you play this Dead By Daylight Chapter, you will die in seven days...

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Now that's just false advertisement right there. It calls itself dead by daylight when it should actually be dead by the seventh daylight. I demand a refund!

 

[autobot314]

You know the critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy XIV? You won't be able to buy it soon because it's TOO popular.

 

[DeathShade]

You know the critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy XIV? You won't be able to buy it soon because it's TOO popular.

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Yeah. And because of the global semiconductor shortage they literally can't buy more servers to increase capacity.

 

[Lykaia]

Huh, I wonder if should try to buy it before they run out. I don't really play MMO's much though.

 

[Rakdos92]

Imagine doing so well that you are forced to stop selling your ware because otherwise it won't work anymore. Suffering from success, indeed...

 

[Raven1138]

Imagine doing so well that you are forced to stop selling your ware because otherwise it won't work anymore. Suffering from success, indeed...

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And considering just how bad 14 was with its 1.0 version, I think Square Enix is happy that their reason to not sell copies has to do with it being too popular.

 

[vyor]

Yeah. And because of the global semiconductor shortage they literally can't buy more servers to increase capacity.

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Mmm, they should be able to get the CPUs and RAM necessary. Other parts though...

 

[Raven1138]

Big news story. Remember how GSG Games, the creators of the Stalker series, announced plans to release NFT based items for a "Staker Metaverse"? Well it turns out they realized that pissing off nearly everyone save for a few Crypto-douches on Twitter was a really fucking stupid idea.

STALKER 2 will NOT feature anything NFT related or crypto currency related..

Lads, we just made a corpo blink.

 

[vyor]

Big news story. Remember how GSG Games, the creators of the Stalker series, announced plans to release NFT based items for a "Staker Metaverse"? Well it turns out they realized that pissing off nearly everyone save for a few Crypto-douches on Twitter was a really fucking stupid idea.

STALKER 2 will NOT feature anything NFT related or crypto currency related..

Lads, we just made a corpo blink.

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No, we got them to make a claim. And it was probably Valve's doing.

Now we wait and see how much they're lying. I'm betting: lots of lying.

 

[Bear_Mint]

No, we got them to make a claim. And it was probably Valve's doing.

Now we wait and see how much they're lying. I'm betting: lots of lying.

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It's probably going to be similar to how activision promises that there won't be loot boxes on release. But then adds in loot boxes a year after release when no one was paying attention.

 

[Scygnus]

*spends ages trying to get to the boss of the second stage of Loop Hero*

*puts it away for six months in frustration*

*puts it back in, gets to the boss in three loops, wins on the first try*

Breaks really do help.

So does unlocking alchemy and the river.

I also may have just gotten lucky on the loop- though my HP was about one pixel wide when she went down, so it was just barely enough.

Now- onto stage three. Sure to be even worse.

...Though the River should help, once I figure out how to work it into my land pattern- normally I put the treasure tiles on the right and surround them with forests, rocks and mountains on the left, and roadside crystals with meadows... hm.

 

[rx915]

Looks fun.

 

[rx915]

There's now a kung fu game that ages you everytime you die.

 

[rx915]

More Roman games are fun.

 

[Scygnus]

Picked up a few of the games on sale...

Blaster Master Zero- The original was fuckin' neat but had the usual Nintendo Hard and Guide Dang It problems- I first played it on the original NES on the cart. No internet back then. The re-make is probably better put together. Especially considering they've made two sequels.

EDIT: Okay, so it's pretty much 1-1 for the original, at least so far as the first area- which is the only one I ever managed. I only know anything about the rest because of a speedrun. The weapon powerup system in top-down mode still blows exactly the same and the Wave Beam is still OP as fuck. You can at least pick which weapon mode you're using- as long as you still have the powerup level necessary. Which is useful for when you don't have enough to use the Wave Beam and still want to shoot through walls. At least there are save points now- the original I think was a One Sitting game.

EDIT2: Oh, and the tank controls are real fucking floaty. Fair warning for the platforming segments, though I've gotten used to it fairly quickly. Also, they added a simple gridmap that includes all the top-down caves, transfer points, and at least one health-extender pickup so far. Have to find the map or go to each square as you explore, tho.

Stranded Sails- Stranded pirates farming simulator? Looked neat a long time ago. Five bucks, not a huge loss if I don't turn out to like it.

Record of Lodoss War- Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- For those unfamiliar Record of Lodoss War is an old school anime in a very Tolkein type setting. I watched quite a bit of it when watching anime meant getting lucky at the used bookstore in finding something you could afford or convince your parents to buy. The game is a Metroidvania where you play as the aforementioned Deedlit- the Elf of the party. Something something Parn's missing, I think. I did play the demo some time ago- very SotN as far as it went.

And lastly... Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home. The first one was extremely good for an H-Game. I know more decent ones have come out since, but it was probably one of the first few that actually had good gameplay. The sequel seems to have improved the gameplay a bit. The during-mission healing sex is about the same so far- I only played the first mission- and some of the art decisions...

Okay, so, in the shelter you have you- Generic Eyeless Hentai Man- a bunch of people that look like normal humans- if they could pass as Mad Max extras- and your Waifus- who look like pretty standard anime girls. It's a bit jarring.

A bit of advice- keep the damn machine gun in the first level. Ignore the sniper rifle, it's useless in this level. Shotguns are great against Mutants, as is the big handgun I picked up, but the 'boss' of the first level was a horde of regular zombies- and a fucking lot of them. They got me pinned in place once, completely surrounded- and the blonde girl nearly died, which is how I found out the healing sex minigame was still as it was. Would've probably been easier if I could Spray and Pray.

What I'm seeing now that I can explore the base seems to indicate non-story missions might be different, but I went ahead and quit for now.

 

[Jus4532]

With the Steam Sale, should I get the Dragon Age series and Mass Effect legendary edition since they are on sale and would cost exactly 45 dollars to get?

I heard about the issue with origin and crashes associated with these games but should I still get those games?

 

[ZiPeppe]

Both are very good game series. Not without faults, but are a wirthwhile purchase in my mind if you don't mind Origin and/or EA.