What Are You Playing?

I still enjoyed the game enough to finish its main part (probably will finish the DLCs too).
The DLCs are definitely worth it, especially Blood and Wine which combines the charming and sinister in a way that rivals the main game.

I suppose another factor in my "disappointment" is that I jumped right into Witcher 3, without playing the two previous titles, so I kinda felt thrown in a love triangle (picked Yenn :shrug: ) that I didn't care about and rescuing friends I didn't know I had (Dande-who?).
Yeah, I've expressed before why I think playing at least the second game first enhances your enjoyment going into the Witcher 3. It was better designed to serve an introductory role for console players and other new groups of people, while the third game is more of a continuation for something that had already been established and familiar to modern players by that point.

Are there more cool mechanics like that hidden in the game?
There are a few, although I wouldn't exactly call them mechanics. Aside from deflecting arrows with Aard, you can also knock enemies from high places, and once you mutate it you can freeze them and shoot your crossbow for an instant kill. There's also a separate ability you can unlock which lets you deflect projectiles back at the enemy if I remember correctly. Most if not all of these are tied to an achievement, so you can easily find out what they are if you're interested.

PS: Of the 20 minutes it took me to write this post, I spent 10 of them watching skully eating beherits lol
Ah, finally, somebody acknowledges my Dokuro no Pakkuman!
 
The reason I didn’t watch the new anime was because it was like bloodless ps1 graphics haha

I’m keen to play the new game though, I’ve decided to go into it blind without watching any trailers to keep my anticipation high

The PS2 game was a masterpiece
 

Atocas

Voice in the Void
I’ve never played a Dynasty Warriors game so I’m pretty interested.
I wouldn't get too hyped up. It's a game that provides some good fun every now and then, but it gets exhausting kinda quick and going for something like 100% will take a lot of fun out of the game from my experience. It does have its moments though, so I hope you find some entertainment in it.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate - 600 hours. I think only Diablo III has taken more hours of my life, at least on record. Unofficially, the only other games that could possibly compete are Diablo II, Fallout 2, and collectively the Souls series, which has largely been the last decade of my gaming life.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Damn dude. Thats a lot of hours. I guess I gotta play that sooner rather than later.


I’ve never played a Dynasty Warriors game so I’m pretty interested. Is there any bloodshed in the game?
I haven’t played the Berserk game but I played every Dynasty Warriors up until 7 or 8 and they are basically all the same. When I was younger, and especially a kid when Dynasty Warriors 2 came out, I loved the massive armies on screen and playing as the heroes from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. They get extremely repetitive after a while but if you’ve never played one and the Berserk game is your introduction perhaps you could get some enjoyment out it. Like I said I didn’t feel the need to play it because it’s just every DW game with Berserk skins, but it could be fun for a minute on a very superficial level.
Of course it goes without saying that Berserk deserves so much more and reducing it and it’s characters to a simple hack and slash game doesn’t do it justice in any sense.
 
I finished The Last of Us Part II last weekend, what a game. After the ending, I needed some time for myself. Not necessarily because its ending was that good, it wasn't and felt a bit empty imo, but it was simply very exhausting. I really liked the game, though, I had lots of fun. The review ended up a bit chaotic but here it goes :)
It's been a long time since I played the first part so I can't really compare how the gameplay improved but in most cases, it felt very natural and easy to learn. I had fun experimenting with stealthing, aggressively taking on multiple targets and using different items to succeed, although the latter often only happened when I noticed that I've been carrying around those molotov's for half the game when all my item slots were empty. Ellie's and Abby's combat felt different but not different enough. I wish it would've been more distinguishable than chocking an enemy vs. knifing an enemy. Some differences in items like the bombs (strategically placing vs. throwing at enemies) were very nice and refreshing. At times the combat was a bit too long, though, when there came the 5th wave of scars (sorry, Seraphites) and I just wanted it to be over with and just explore the world and abandoned places.
Speaking of which, those were astonishing. FF7R was also very pretty but this was a step up. I like how natural the environment felt, how cities looked, devoured under all the grass, bushes and trees. Expressions, movement and gestures were spot on, only if I'm a bit nitpicky the in-game expressions/face models lacked a bit of the detail provided in cut scenes. I wonder if next-gen games won't have to scale down those models that much to have less of a difference between cutscene and ingame models.
For people who've been to Seattle or even live there, it must've been quite the experience to see your everyday life in an apocalyptic setting. For those who've been there or know more about (maybe I just missed some hints in the game): was there a reason why half the city was underwater? Maybe I missed a shot of a dam being broken or Seattle simply is located lower than sea level and will have difficulties in the future with them, similar to the Netherlands.
As far as the story goes, I'm glad I was able to withstand any spoilers when hearing about all the backslash the game got on release so I was not sure what to expect. Joel's death, especially so early on, was a surprise and I think I might've preferred to have some of the flashbacks earlier on, before his death, or chronologically. The latter is probably my favourite solution and they could've put some other flashbacks later on. Not sure if they were trying to build up the reason why Joel and Ellie were on bad terms when the game starts, I think most people immediately knew the reason behind it so there was no need to put it in a flashback imo.
I've read that some people think Joel acted out of character when he revealed his name but he lived 4 years in Jackson, a completely different lifestyle than what he was used to before. Of course, he'd develop as a character and warm up to people. They also had a little "bonding" with Abby when they saved her (you wouldn't expect a backstab after that) and after Tommy revealed his name it was too late anyway.
From what I've read online, most people also didn't like playing half the game with Abby and when I realized I wouldn't only play a 2-3h point of view from her side of Seattle Day 1-3, I was put off, too. The more I played with her the more I enjoyed it and eventually liked her more than Ellie. It was such a bold decision by ND and I understand not everyone likes it, even after getting the whole experience of finishing the game. I think it was a great idea, even though the momentum of both of them meeting on day 4 suffered due to it. It was a memorable experience and a stand out feature, at least for me.
When playing through Ellie's last hunt of Abby, I couldn't sympathize with her at all anymore, she just became too different of a person and I wish there would've been a different ending for Ellie's character arc. In the end, it felt coherent to the rest of the game so I think it was the right decision, at least for this game. If this was the last TLoU game, I'd probably think differently about it but I doubt they'll leave that franchise at it is, especially given how successful it was and how openly the game ended.
If they'll release a DLC I'd like to be about Dina or Lev. I want to see what happens to Abby and Lev but that'd be stuff to include in a TLoU Part III. Dina was probably my favourite side character and Lev's perspective from the scars would be very interesting. Given how young he is, you'd probably play as Yara, it was mentioned how good of a hunter she was after all.
Overall, I wish there would've been more Joel and sometimes characters wouldn't behave convincingly. Abby was done with her rage and probably wanted to stop the revenge spiral but after Tommy killed Manny and fell into the water, I expected her to at least shoot a few times after him (would've resulted in the same outcome if she missed or only hit his shoulder or so). I get that she wanted to go after Lev and didn't expect Tommy to see again but that scene felt out of character.
I had lots of fun and only a few and often minor problems with the game, I'd rate it a 9/10. Maybe over time, this could lower to an 8/10, reading some of your problems about it made me realize things like a conversation between Ellie and Abby would've been interesting. Not sure where they could've added it, I don't think it'd feel natural to have it on Seattle Day 4 or in Santa Barbara. Maybe something for a Part III.

Not really part of my review but since there were so many people online rating the game as the "worst ever" or "unplayable" because of ND's "agenda", I want to give my two cents, too. I personally wouldn't have had a better experience if Ellie dated a guy instead of Dina (although it was clear from Part I's DLC that Ellie is a lesbian) or Lev wouldn't have been a trans person. After all, Lev could've done something different the Seraphites would've been furious about and most of the scenes would've been the same. There was also no glorifying of minorities as both Ellie and Lev were flawed. Ellie ended up as one of the most unlikable characters in the end (at least for me) and Lev, even after acknowledging that it was his fault Yara ended up losing an arm, was selfish enough to go back to his mother he couldn't have convinced to come with him and thus dragging Yara after him in a battlefield of wolfs and seraphites, which ended up with his sister's death.
The link Griffith posted about how (at least parts of) the LGBT community reacted to Lev is probably on the other side of the spectrum and I don't understand them either. I understand how deadnaming (didn't even know of the word before) would hurt trans people and that it shouldn't be okay to deadname them. But is it believable the Seraphite's, trying to murder Lev, would first ask him about his prefered name and then tell him they support his decision "but rules are rules, sorry bro" and then continue trying to kill him? Sure.
I think having a diverse cast doesn't hurt anybody, hasn't worsened the story at all and it's not like every game will follow ND's example and have gay main characters only so there will be enough games for everyone to play :shrug:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Good review, pretty much summed it up. Looking back my view of the game has probably worsened from the standpoint I haven't played it or even thought much of it since, so it didn't have a big impact besides the graphics as you mentioned (best on PS4 imo). The gameplay was fun but a bit simple, repetitive, even dated IMO, and not nearly as addictive as the first game, so no kudos there.

Storywise, for a game so focused on characterization, the characters decisions didn't make sense half the time as you pointed out, and they really needed to because the plot was otherwise completely dependent on our buying into them. For such a purportedly progressive cast (it's still a couple of white mains at the end of the day =), they didn't tell a very progressive or even interesting story. I felt like there was a much bigger, better and more relevant epic sci fi drama to unfold here with Ellie and her immunity and the long-term implications of Joel's actions. Which would have worked with all these same characters BTW, but that was largely bypassed and then completely forgotten for a simple revenge tale that also didn't follow through. All so they could deliver the big message that: violence is actually bad... that's it. Well, thanks for that ND, you really changed my life. I'll be playing Mortal Kombat if you need me.

Anyway, all that sounded pretty negative, but I actually agree with most of your compliments for the game, and don't think it's that big a disappointment, let alone among the worst. It's biggest sin is being merely a very good game while carrying itself like the best game ever made.
 
the characters decisions didn't make sense half the time
What were character decisions that bugged you the most? Some decisions were made highly emotionally (Ellie's last hunt of Abby even though she settled down with Dina and should try to work on her PTSD) or without much hindsight (Lev's only 13 so I guess rescuing his mother was the naive wishful thinking of a kid/young teenager) and in my eyes explicable. They only took me out of the story a few times when they didn't fit the character (Abby leaving Tommy be after killing Manny) but maybe I simply didn't noticed or remember them.
not nearly as addictive as the first game
What'd you like better about the first game? Or was it that Part II simply didn't evolve too much gameplay-wise?
It's biggest sin is being merely a very good game while carrying itself like the best game ever made.
I expected "tHe WoRsT gAmE eVeR mAdE" so I didn't go in with high expectations and let myself in for the story, maybe helped to rate it higher than it is actually worth, dunno :ganishka:

My next games to play will be Demon's Souls (already have it lying at home for about 2 weeks but I'm still waiting for my PS5 to arrive :mozgus:) and Cyberpunk 2077, excited for both of them.
I might play my first playthrough of CP2077 a bit different than I normally would as that'd leave no time to play other games for the rest of 2021. So mostly the main quest (which apparently is only 15-20 hours) and a few side quests. As Demon's Souls is my first Souls game I don't want to get out of the game for too long and then be frustrated that I forgot most of the controls, only to add it to my pile of shame (unfinished games). The plan is to give me time with CP2077's second (and real) playthrough and still be able to enjoy playing other games.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
What were character decisions that bugged you the most? Some decisions were made highly emotionally (Ellie's last hunt of Abby even though she settled down with Dina and should try to work on her PTSD) or without much hindsight (Lev's only 13 so I guess rescuing his mother was the naive wishful thinking of a kid/young teenager) and in my eyes explicable. They only took me out of the story a few times when they didn't fit the character (Abby leaving Tommy be after killing Manny) but maybe I simply didn't noticed or remember them.

I can't remember all the specific instances anymore but in general everyone behaved the opposite of how they should've but then contradicted themselves at the last moment, when it was past the point of no return. Like, Ellie, Tommy and Abby had revenge bi-polar disorder throughout, "I shouldn't... but now I have to... but I can't!" Meanwhile, if I'm just your bud or a friend of friend along for the ride, I'm not casually going along on this suicide mission to die for nothing, or conversely, back out after there's even more reason for revenge or just the self-preservation of eliminating an obvious threat. It just never quite followed right until the very end.

The big irony is that if Ellie hadn't of left again Joel would have have gotten poetic justice, but Ellie committed... anti-revenge, or something? Clearly it was trying to be deep and complex but ended up a disjointed, muddled mess with an unsatisfying non-conclusion. It either needed to be longer, like go to Catalina and full circle with Ellie, Abby and the Fireflies, or way shorter with a truncated Abby section and basically end one way or another at the theatre. The restart is completely unwarranted for what follows and kills the momentum of the game dead when it was already on life support after so many hours on a weirdly paced parallel story. Like, I appreciate the ambition of it all, but if it doesn't work it's just pretension.

What'd you like better about the first game? Or was it that Part II simply didn't evolve too much gameplay-wise?

It was just fresher, and I didn't feel like the new mechanics added a ton and it was so streamlined it didn't matter (when it comes down to it you either just sneak or shoot everything). I'm not complaining it wasn't overly complicated, but it was basically just more of the same, and the same since like RE4 came out rather than the purported best game of 2020.

I expected "tHe WoRsT gAmE eVeR mAdE" so I didn't go in with high expectations and let myself in for the story, maybe helped to rate it higher than it is actually worth, dunno :ganishka:

Yeah, that was all typical peak internet hyperbole; it's a fine AAA game with a ton of production value, top notch really, but it's not some transcendent experience like people felt with the first game, and worse, it kind of forsakes that game's plot threads for something not entirely convincing. My final verdict is basically it was a good game among a few this year, best remembered for its looks, but in movie terms it's just an average thriller, not best picture or something.

My next games to play will be Demon's Souls (already have it lying at home for about 2 weeks but I'm still waiting for my PS5 to arrive :mozgus:) and Cyberpunk 2077

I'll probably be getting the latter since I have the hardware to run it and nothing better to play, but I'm jealous you got the new Demon's Souls. I'm hoping it still comes out on PS4, if not PC.

As Demon's Souls is my first Souls game I don't want to get out of the game for too long and then be frustrated that I forgot most of the controls

Well, I'm a bit wary of it not being by From Software, but unless it's dramatically different you shouldn't have to worry about forgetting the controls... just losing your mind! :ganishka:
 
Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4. It's a mess, that it runs well on old consoles was false advertising from CDPR. It's far from well, 720p to 900p dynamic resolution while it holds mostly 720p with fps drops to 15, game crashing, textures on objects loading just before your eyes and it just feels so bad. I can feel that this game is incredible if you play this on good PC or maybe next gens in the future, there's this feeling of something monumental that was build by CDPR, it reminds me of scale of Skyrim from first person perspective but here it's captured in futuristic city, it really feels like they have something else on their hands, but there was false advertising and the game wasn't ready to release in this state on all platforms. If u want to play this game, wait and play it on something better than old consoles.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
That’s a shame. I’m going to get it for the ps4 at some point, maybe a few patches down the line.

I think you should just drop the idea. Game's only showing its strengths on a powerful PC. No patch is going to make it worth your while on PS4. It might be decent on PS5 once it gets all the patches, but the game was clearly made with PCs in mind. On last gen consoles it's unplayable from what I've seen.
 
I think you should just drop the idea. Game's only showing its strengths on a powerful PC. No patch is going to make it worth your while on PS4. It might be decent on PS5 once it gets all the patches, but the game was clearly made with PCs in mind. On last gen consoles it's unplayable from what I've seen.
I tried the game on the PC and I got to say that it's not that great. The potential is there but there are too many issues to ignore. The city feels empty, there is honestly not much to do. Performance is okay-ish but the textures are horrific, everything looks horrible for for 5-10 seconds until they load and the bugs are countless. Makes it hard to believe that this is the studio that made the witcher 3 five years ago, which was beauuuutiful.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
This is truly like the Doom 2 sequel we never got from the '90s id software:

It does look pretty neat!

I tried the game on the PC and I got to say that it's not that great. The potential is there but there are too many issues to ignore. The city feels empty, there is honestly not much to do. Performance is okay-ish but the textures are horrific, everything looks horrible for for 5-10 seconds until they load and the bugs are countless. Makes it hard to believe that this is the studio that made the witcher 3 five years ago, which was beauuuutiful.

I'm guessing your config isn't beefy enough for the game to show its true value. Disclaimer: I haven't played it myself and don't plan to until at least next Christmas when it's on sale. I have a 2080 Ti and that's the sort of card I think you need for this game. Not an excuse for the devs though.
 
I'm not so sure if it's a hardware issue, I got a 1070 Ti and the game automatically sets the graphics to ultra (its gorgeous) and plays at about ~40-45 fps. I played on medium and it runs well, it's the bugs that make it unplayable for me. In all honesty most of the issues are probably gonna be patched down the road but there is no real reason not to wait until then. Another example of why Pre-ordering is a great mistake
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not so sure if it's a hardware issue, I got a 1070 Ti and the game automatically sets the graphics to ultra (its gorgeous) and plays at about ~40-45 fps. I played on medium and it runs well, it's the bugs that make it unplayable for me. In all honesty most of the issues are probably gonna be patched down the road but there is no real reason not to wait until then. Another example of why Pre-ordering is a great mistake

Ah yeah, not surprising. Buying on day one is a mistake for these games, since they're always rife with bugs. Reviewers seems to be saying it's impressive even so, but that's why I'm personally waiting till next year.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
I think you should just drop the idea. Game's only showing its strengths on a powerful PC. No patch is going to make it worth your while on PS4. It might be decent on PS5 once it gets all the patches, but the game was clearly made with PCs in mind. On last gen consoles it's unplayable from what I've seen.
It IS unplayable. Luckily I game share with a buddy on PSN, so I was able to play it for free. It crashed on me several times.

I also game share on Steam, and even then my 970 GTX and i7 could only run it on the lowest settings and it was just awful. Just overall a waste of money for most people.
 
I think people had unrealistic expectations when it comes to this open world of Cyberpunk itself, it's not and wasn't supposed to be RDR2 or GTA V open world like game, but more like TES/Fallout and The Witcher 3. City feels extremely dense, it's very atmospheric and you can lose yourself in it however it is still a stage for quests, leveling up, looting, trying to look for stuff to hack and looking for a fight - yes you need to look for a fight here, it doesn't come to you easily, there are no monsters or wild animals attacking you. It's a great game honestly, just failed launch with old gen and they've admitted that today. Only good thing is that everyone who bought it on previous generation will get proper next gen update.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Cyberpunk 2077 - I guess I'm one of the "lucky" ones able to run this fine and play some despite being crazy busy with work and holiday obligations this week (Covid Christmas, humbug). But I'm not so sure it's really this transcendent experience waylaid by technical issues; it might just be a Fallout and GTA derivative with a Blade Runner skinpack waylaid by technical issues.

I see a lot of potential in some of the visuals and unique mechanics (though even the braindance stuff is basically Batman CSI from the Arkham games), and obviously there's a lot more game world to explore and tip the scales (still waiting for that BIG penis to pay off other than clipping through my pants, I know it will CDPR =), but the story beats and missions are thus far bog standard for the genre (tech noir and open world). It's the same missions, folks; driving, heists, boxing matches(?), but IN THE CYBER FUTURE... you get the picture (just put "cyber-" in front of those activities and they're instantly more exciting).

The plot? Well can you believe that you can't trust the people in this town and things aren't as they seem? I know, my mind was blown too. It doesn't help that your character seemingly only has the choice of being a one dimensional idiot and/or asshole, and like in The Witcher you're pretty much guessing what you'll say from the binary text prompts, which is often the opposite sentiment of what you thought it meant. It's not just my American education failing me at reading comprehension, you can select something innocuous like, "So, what's happening?" and start shit because it leaves out the part where you're insulting, hostile and accusatory. It seems people are pissy or not no matter what you choose, so I imagine that whatever you pick your guy basically says what the devs want or require for any given situation anyway, so why even give me the illusion of choice? Just make the text the text.

Anyway, I'm at what I imagine is the game's first major turn, and as you can tell I'm not really having fun yet (been playing MK9, X & 11 the last two nights instead). It might be it's trying to do too much with all the fighting, sneaking, hacking, chatting mechanics, but none of it at a master level. I'm still hopeful it's all going to click and I'll be won over, though. This shit is right up my alley so I really want to like this game, but maybe that's why so far it's not living up to those pesky cyber-expectations.
 
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