General gaming discussion

Potential-Monke

CastorTroy wrote: »

Likewise here.
I tend to try and avoid combat because I'm clearly not very good at it. Like took me ages mins to slowly whittle away at a corrupted Thunderjaw last night. Was nearly out of ammo by the time I succeeded.
I need to go through all available weapons from the merchants and see what to buy.

The Ropecaster is your friend. Tie every one of them feckers down and hop off them then. Rarely used the flamethrower or gattling gun type weapons. Bows and ropes!

Sieghardt

Azza wrote: »

Yakuza 0 was godlike, but Kiwami's story didn't do much for me and Majima everywhere was pretty damn annoying.

From my under standing of it, Yakuza 3 and 4 are considered okay-ish and Yakuza 5 is mean't to be pretty good. But I'm sort of under the impression the best 3 are 0, Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 6.

Highly debatable, I would say the best 3 are 0, 4 and 5 and consider 6 one of the weaker ones.

Jordan 199

I'm lovin' Horizon Zero Dawn.

pixelburp

It was only 'cos Mark Brown mentioned it in his recent GMTK episode, but Warner Brothers put out a patent on their "nemesis" system from the Shadow of Mordor series. That kinda sucks; can't say I immediately recall another game company trying to patent a game mechanic - imagine if Nintendo tried patenting "jumping onto and into things" fadó?

It's such a shame; as Brown says the system was all sorts of amazing for the dynamic narratives it generated (albeit lost in a storm of WBs shítty microtransactions).

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160279522A1/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm_AzK27mZY

Retr0gamer

pixelburp wrote: »

It was only 'cos Mark Brown mentioned it in his recent GMTK episode, but Warner Brothers put out a patent on their "nemesis" system from the Shadow of Mordor series. That kinda sucks; can't say I immediately recall another game company trying to patent a game mechanic - imagine if Nintendo tried patenting "jumping onto and into things" fadó?

It's such a shame; as Brown says the system was all sorts of amazing for the dynamic narratives it generated (albeit lost in a storm of WBs shítty microtransactions).

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160279522A1/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm_AzK27mZY

That patent would never stand up in court. The lawsuit that Capcom lost to Data East over Fighter's History being too similar to Street Fighter was lost because of 'scenes a faire'. Derivative works are protected by copyright.

Now getting into a pissing contest with Warner Bros lawyers over it where your game is pulled from sale over a law case that you will eventually win but Warner Bros will tear the arse out of is another story.

ERG89

Well that may explain why other games have basically ignored the nemesis system universally. The Medium devs have patented the dual reality gimmick even though its basically what Silent Hill was doing decades ago, but that studio seem to have a history of just copying ideas from other games.

Kiith

US patent law is absolutely mental, but thankfully ours is far more sensible. Other games have used the Nemesis system in all but name, so i imagine WB are just being WB.

awec

I struggled to get in to Horizon Zero Dawn. Got completely stuck at one point relatively early and just gave up, I found the whole thing a bit dull tbh.

quokula

Binged Mythic Quest : Raven's Banquet over the weekend. It's a sitcom TV show on Apple TV+ about a games studio. It's got some pedigree from always sunny and Ubisoft were involved as consultants too (the footage of the fictional game very noticeably uses assets from some of their recent titles)

It's full of over the top characters and storylines, but it does touch upon a lot of industry topics from crunch to male dominated workplaces to toxic communities to paid influencers, and does so in the context of coworkers who push and pull between their priorities on creative ownership, gameplay, narrative, monetisation etc.

I actually found the first episode cringeworthy and turned off at first but I came back to it and it does get a whole lot better. Especially once you make it to episode 5, which is one of the best standalone episodes of TV I've seen in a long time. Would highly recommend it.

Retr0gamer

awec wrote: »

I struggled to get in to Horizon Zero Dawn. Got completely stuck at one point relatively early and just gave up, I found the whole thing a bit dull tbh.

It's standard ubisoft open world stuff but prettier, worse writing and a decent combat system. I don't get the love for it but then I'm the same with all games of its ilk.

Azza

I just completed Horizon Zero Dawn though I've yet to start on the Frozen Wilds expansion pack and I've rather mixed feelings on it.

Game play wise the combat with machines is for the most part good, at least at range, aiming arrows and targeting weak point does require skill, machine movement can be very erratic which can at times make aiming difficult, as you do have to be quite precise with your shots. It does make makes sense in the game world that the movement would be erratic as the machines are suppose to be imitating animals. At times though the number of enemies make combat very messy as they charge at you from close range an you constantly need to spam the dodge button and sometimes its hard to fight airborne targets that hover directly above you and you simply can't pan the camera up enough to see them. Meele combat is very simplistic and unsatisfying. Stealth works well though. Also found when things got frustrating I was too easily able to cheese the enemies by exploiting the fact they could only move so far from the areas they where designated to roam in.

Human enemies are fine for the stealth approach but feel pretty unsatisfying to fight.

Other than that it's generic open world stuff, of crafting, collectables, climbing marked cliff ledges and towers to reveal map locations, clearing out bandit camps. Stuff we have all seen many times before.

In terms of story, I actually quite liked the main storyline, thought it was an interesting enough take on an end of the world scenario, and about original as it could be with such a scenario but kinda of rolled my eyes at the in game tribes which felt like thinly hidden substitutes for the typical fantasy gruff of Elves and Dwarfs.

Side quest wise, all forgettable fluff. All the same, just follow a trail highlighted by your focus vision (see Geralts Witcher senses from the Witcher III) until you start a combat encounter, rinse and repeat a dozen times but unlike the Witcher III all the stories behind the side quests are as dull as dishwater.

The main characters are not particularly interesting either.

Graphically, its a fantastic looking game with only a few very minor visual glitches being noticed in general gameplay. Though when triggering dialogue scenes the game really lets itself down. with character clothing rife with clipping issues and occasional bad lip syncing. Characters are very static in this sequences as well. Dialogue wheel options seem largely pointless as well.

Other than that playing on PC it ran well and maybe crashed on me twice, so I'd consider the PC port more or less fixed.

So yeah a real mixed bag to me.

Notorious

Azza wrote: »

Other than that it's generic open world stuff, of crafting, collectables, climbing marked cliff ledges and towers to reveal map locations, clearing out bandit camps. Stuff we have all seen many times before.

I really think that open-world fatigue is a real thing. I'm playing through Ghost of Tsushima at the moment, and I really a fed up looking at the map and seeing all of these collectibles and side-quests which have very little weight story-wise.

What I try to do is just stick to the main story and ignore everything else that I consider padding. In HZD I really enjoyed the story and the post-apocalyptic world, so that kept me going. I did come back to the game two years for Frozen Wilds and I really enjoyed it. Maybe take a break and come back to it?

My issue with Ghost of Tsushima is that the story isn't all that interesting and the combat has become repetitive. The world looks fantastic, but it's not engaging.

Azza

Well it wasn't a case of fatigue for me, as I haven't played an open world game in quite a while, so I didn't mind the standard open world stuff too much in the game. But yeah if was coming into directly from say something like GOT or AC or maybe even Far Cry I probably would not have had the patience for it.

Retr0gamer

I'd like to point out Horizon's World is basically a really **** version of Panzer Dragoon's world.

I expect zero people to care.

gizmo

Speaking of derivative works...

Whatever about the content of the game, I am absolutely baffled as to why any marketing department thought it appropriate to rip off the incredibly contrived Ubisoft-style scripted game chat for the initial reveal of their game.

Jordan 199

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd like to point out Horizon's World is basically a really **** version of Panzer Dragoon's world.

I expect zero people to care.

How does Panzer Dragoon compare to The Legend of Dragoon for example?

degrassinoel

Rumours abound that Total War Warhammer 3 is going to be announced this week

Notorious

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd like to point out Horizon's World is basically a really **** version of Panzer Dragoon's world.

I expect zero people to care.

Are you recommending the remake?

Gamer Bhoy 89

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd like to point out Horizon's World is basically a really **** version of Panzer Dragoon's world.

I expect zero people to care.

Retr0gamer

Horizon's world and Panzer Dragoon are very similar but I kind of doubt that the developers were influenced because feck all people played the later Panzer games. But there is a huge amount that's similar.

Jordan 199 wrote: »

How does Panzer Dragoon compare to The Legend of Dragoon for example?

Don't take the bait, don't take the bait....

Notorious wrote: »

Are you recommending the remake?

Not unless you have nostalgia for the original. It's a good remake in that it's very faithful to the original but the original was a tech demo rather than a great game.

I heard the team might be working on Panzer Dragoon Zwei which unlike the original is one of the best rail shooters of all time. I'd recommend that wholeheartedly.

The Raging Bile Duct

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd like to point out Horizon's World is basically a really **** version of Panzer Dragoon's world.

I expect zero people to care.

Ooooh, edgy.

Retr0gamer

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

Ooooh, edgy.

Not edgy at all. I was just pre-empting comments like this.

The Raging Bile Duct

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Not edgy at all. I was just pre-empting comments like this.

You're right, it's not edgy. It the same type of tired comments you come out with in relation to the game that add nothing to the conversation.

Zero-Cool

gizmo wrote: »

Speaking of derivative works...

Whatever about the content of the game, I am absolutely baffled as to why any marketing department thought it appropriate to rip off the incredibly contrived Ubisoft-style scripted game chat for the initial reveal of their game.

The Division with Zombies? Sign me the **** up.

Retr0gamer

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

You're right, it's not edgy. It the same type of tired comments you come out with in relation to the game that add nothing to the conversation.

Well I actually think it's pretty interesting, especially if the developers were influenced by it at all but haven't seen anything about it or was it a Deep Impact, Armageddon deal.

I also think it adds to the conversation a lot more than your combative tone which definitely adds nothing. People are allowed discuss your favourite games in a negative light you know.

The Raging Bile Duct

Zero-Cool wrote: »

The Division with Zombies? Sign me the **** up.

Is it the Day Before the Last of Us starts? They've even used the same sort of slightly grungy condensed block font...

Zero-Cool

As for Horizon, I couldn't get into it either, found it very boring (story, characters, combat, traversal). Sold it. Bought it again months later, got to the same 10 hour mark and sold it again. Bought it again a year later, pushed past the 10 hour mark and absolutely loved it. Just clicked with me even though the writing was still awful and I wasn't overly excited about the combat. Loved the story in it.

Similarly with Ghost of Tsushima, Bought it, got bored (story, characters, combat, traversal), lovely to look at, same as Horizon. Sold it. Bought it again, ignored all the side stuff to focus on the main missions and absolutely loved it.

I know the side stuff is optional but if they got rid of most of it, it would make you focus on the great game underneath. But I imagine devs have to make games as long as possible to keep their shareholders happy.

Take AC Valhalla for example. I like the odd AC game but not touching this with a bargepole after hearing how long the main story is because of all the forced repetitive **** you have to do in it.

Gamer Bhoy 89

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

You're right, it's not edgy. It the same type of tired comments you come out with in relation to the game that add nothing to the conversation.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well I actually think it's pretty interesting, especially if the developers were influenced by it at all but haven't seen anything about it or was it a Deep Impact, Armageddon deal.

I also think it adds to the conversation a lot more than your combative tone which definitely adds nothing. People are allowed discuss your favourite games in a negative light you know.

It's true, Duct, he cuts my favourite games up all the time. :pac:

The Raging Bile Duct

Gamer Bhoy 89 wrote: »

It's true, Duct, he cuts my favourite games up all the time. :pac:

It's a grand game. I enjoyed it for what it is but I'd agree with a lot of Azza's criticism of it. I wouldn't call it one of my favourites by a long shot. It's just one of those games that's always guaranteed to elicit a trolling comment from Retrogamer.

Retr0gamer

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I know the side stuff is optional but if they got rid of most of it, it would make you focus on the great game underneath. But I imagine devs have to make games as long as possible to keep their shareholders happy.

Take AC Valhalla for example. I like the odd AC game but not touching this with a bargepole after hearing how long the main story is because of all the forced repetitive **** you have to do in it.

You might think it's ridiculous that developers just inflate their games with fluff that just isn't enjoyable, something like Horizon I think would be so much better if it came in at 20 hours and cut the fluff, but you keep hearing online people talking about a good game gives good dollar to the hour value.

I beat some Megaman games recently in about 4 hours and they are far better than the majority of Ubisoft games I've played.