What other games are we all playing?

[LanceLord]

Well said. What resonated with me the most about Oydessy was the shocking degree of PLAYER CHOICE (particularly since it wasn't a vintage TES/Fallout game). And yes, Kassy will always be my fav of the two protags.

I remember seeing somewhere (might have been an exit interview with her voice actor on YT/social media somewhere) that the devs somewhat skewed/optimized the main story in favor of her character. Because even though she and Alexios were designed from the same lump of digital clay (i.e. both being titan-esque of stature, heroic and inspirational warriors on the battlefield, and yes, both being unabashedly bisexual, with their orientation being a choice the player could decide), it seems the devs put just a little more effort into designing Kassandra's personality and character.

Especially how she verbally interacted with NPCs in main quests/random encounters throughout the world. There were times when her gender made it more entertaining to play as a female v. as the male protagonist. Particularly the dialogue in certain scenes, where it seems she got the better lines and voice acting. I mean who could forget this Oscar wining moment on one of the side quests. Which you could completely miss if you didn't encounter/engage the NPC quest givers. Or failed to make the connection between an earlier main quest. Or worst yet, accidentally triggered and broke it entirely while going about your business in free roam....

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5xi57fIXVY


Seriously. I couldn't stop the milk coming out my nose laughing my a.s.s off after that scene. Ubi captured the true essence of the Greek Tragedy and Oedipus Rex with that one quest

And don't get me started with her sizzling hot romance with Kyra (and all her other lovers). Which is a whole other OT thread discussion on how the addition of player choice/cause-effect mechanic features makes for an AWESOME gaming experience

edit: Updated the Kassandra version (the full scene dialog where the Oedipus like NPC completes the prophecy) with this classic xLetalis YT upload. Right after that quest achievement, I felt exactly the way what xLetalis ended up doing to to Supedio at 6:28

And finally found the Alexios version. Not as hilarious as the way Kassandra delivered her lines IMO. Alexios dramatic delivery seems a bit forced. But eh, totally subjective.Because I will always fan ship Kassandra!

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYHJ0A3XaxE

 

[Chris Simon]

Well said. What resonated with me the most about Oydessy was the shocking degree of PLAYER CHOICE (particularly since it wasn't a vintage TES/Fallout game). And yes, Kassy will always be my fav of the two protags.

I remember seeing somewhere (might have been an exit interview with her voice actor on YT/social media somewhere) that the devs somewhat skewed/optimized the main story in favor of her character. Because even though she and Alexios were designed from the same lump of digital clay (i.e. both being titan-esque of stature, heroic and inspirational warriors on the battlefield, and yes, both being unabashedly bisexual, with their orientation being a choice the player could decide), it seems the devs put just a little more effort into designing Kassandra's personality and character.

Especially how she verbally interacted with NPCs in main quests/random encounters throughout the world. There were times when her gender made it more entertaining to play as a female v. as the male protagonist. Particularly the dialogue in certain scenes, where it seems she got the better lines and voice acting. I mean who could forget this Oscar wining moment on one of the side quests. Which you could completely miss if you didn't encounter/engage the NPC quest givers. Or failed to make the connection between an earlier main quest. Or worst yet, accidentally triggered and broke it entirely while going about your business in free roam....

Seriously. I couldn't stop the milk coming out my nose laughing my a.s.s off after that scene. Ubi captured the true essence of the Greek Tragedy and Oedipus Rex with that one quest

And don't get me started with her sizzling hot romance with Kyra (and all her other lovers). Which is a whole other OT thread discussion on how the addition of player choice/cause-effect mechanic features makes for an AWESOME gaming experience

I completely agree. It seems like the devs liked Kassie more as well. She's much more fleshed out as a character, I think.
That being said, I don't think Alex (and his VA) did a bad job, but the fact that they counted with Kas as a MC and Alex as the antagonist oozes from every pore of the game. Playing as Alexios simply doesn't... feel right. But as a villain he's great.
(spoilers obviously, but at this point anybody who hasn't played it by now deserves the spoilers)

And yes, she can be hilarious. My personal favourite scene is probably the conversation with Cyclops before the fight. "Did he call you cyclops? Did he hurt your feelings?"
She has so many memorable remarks, snarks and quotes.
Writers of this game would deserve an Oscar.

Barnabas is great as well. As you mentioned Kyra (and yes, she's my favourite), have you tried asking Barnabas to remind you what the letter said again?
Kassandra: My mind wandered. Remind me what the note said?
Barnabas: (reading from the letter) "Eagle-bearing misthios."
Kassandra: The short version, please.
Barnabas: (smiles and shakes his head) Podarkes... Cruel leader... Thirst for power... Pay you handsomely... Rebellion... People dying.

And then this gem:
Kassandra: We have a lot in common. I was hoping when the smoke clears, we could find somewhere quiet.
Kyra: And what exactly do we have in common?
Kassandra: I just... We... I just thought that's what people said to each other. I wasn't expecting a follow-up.

You just gotta love them both.

 

[Mole HD]

I'll never get over the goat and Cyclops' obsidian eye....

Talking about devs favouring characters and storylines...Watching the '10 years of the Witcher' presentation CDPR did a couple of years ago, one of the devs on the panel was describing finding a bug that completely crashed the game (Witcher 2) almost too late into the development process to rectify. Seemingly the bug only appeared if the character decided not to have sex with Triss Merigold at a certain point...which had sailed through 6 weeks of development and QA without anyone finding it..

If you've never watched this 2+ hour inside look into CDPR and the Witcher series....please do. It's a fantastic insight into CDPR as a company, the devs that work there and it's beginnings with the Witcher series.

 

[Chris Simon]

I'll never get over the goat and Cyclops' obsidian eye....

Talking about devs favouring characters and storylines...Watching the '10 years of the Witcher' presentation CDPR did a couple of years ago, one of the devs on the panel was describing finding a bug that completely crashed the game (Witcher 2) almost too late into the development process to rectify. Seemingly the bug only appeared if the character decided not to have sex with Triss Merigold at a certain point...which had sailed through 6 weeks of development and QA without anyone finding it..

If you've never watched this 2+ hour inside look into CDPR and the Witcher series....please do. It's a fantastic insight into CDPR as a company, the devs that work there and it's beginnings with the Witcher series.

Hah! Brilliant. (although let's be honest, would anybody even find this bug? )

I'll definitely watch it. Thanks.

 

[Vasea Azure]

I`m still only playing my f2p fishing game. For some reason all will or desire for gaming in general vanished. Maybe this all quarantine thing is getting in to my nerves but I`m so bitter and angry over early access/loot boxes/EA/Blizzard... all this poop in this hobby that I only see negatives in every title.

 

[Chris Simon]

I`m still only playing my f2p fishing game. For some reason all will or desire for gaming in general vanished. Maybe this all quarantine thing is getting in to my nerves but I`m so bitter and angry over early access/loot boxes/EA/Blizzard... all this poop in this hobby that I only see negatives in every title.

It may be that but it also may be something deeper.
Falling into ritualized activities (playing one simple game, listening to one song, doing one house chore over and over,... and genral unwillingness to try new things) could be a first sign of depression. Take care.

 

[LanceLord]

I`m still only playing my f2p fishing game. For some reason all will or desire for gaming in general vanished. Maybe this all quarantine thing is getting in to my nerves but I`m so bitter and angry over early access/loot boxes/EA/Blizzard... all this poop in this hobby that I only see negatives in every title.

Then you would love this latest fiasco per YT tabloid news

Like Uber, I devoutly pray for Activision and the Exceptional A.$.$.hat's downfall. The latter 2 companies alone are solely responsible for polluting the vast pool of innovative capital that once nourished the Indie dev gaming industry.

The late 90's to 2010 decade was a tragic decade for gamers who grew up playing any game genre in that era. Because they were forced to witness their once flourishing and loved Indie devs being assimilated and cannibalized by these soulless leviathans. Saw them being transformed into desiccated husks of their former selves. Before being abandoned and left to rot by the digital way side, as the cannibal mega corporations moved on to their next Indie conquest

Origin, Bioware, Maxis, Mythic, Bullfrog, Dice, Blizzard, Westwood, etc. etc. One by one, they were all consumed and transformed by these demonic Borg corporations. There has to be a unique fire and brimstone digital hell that awaits the executives and board of directors who run these two malignant corporations.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Gave XCOM 2 another try during the free week, and I bought the whole package. I am mid-late game in the vanilla version, will mod it slightly once I take on war of the chosen. Second difficulty setting is OK as I don't have too many 90% misses, but occasionally I still need to load earlier saves.
Also bought Civ4 earlier, and I think I prefer it vs Civ5 - and definitely much better than Civ6.

Decided to take a break from Warships, but I started playing Elite again.

Please do. I've only got a couple of artbooks. Mostly for my most favourite games or when they came with the collector's editions and Odyssey artbook is by far the best in my posession. I know there are even more impressive ones, out there, for example the Blizzard ones, but even then it's a must-buy.

As for the Origins, well, I've got Uplay+ so I don't even have to buy it. And maybe I'll get to it at some point. I know it's great and it's the stepping stone Odyssey built up upon (and also the only AC I haven't played so even from the completionist's standpoint I ought to. )

Origins is IMHO far better than Odyssey. To be fair, the desolate landscapes and arguable more fascinating Egyptian setting are a huge advantage.

 

[Chris Simon]

the desolate landscapes and arguable more fascinating Egyptian setting are a huge advantage.

That is subjective, apparently as this is exactly why the game doesn't have much appeal in my opinion.
But like I said earlier, I fully recognize that my disinterest in Egypt is quite uncommon.

 

[Iron Golem]

On that note, AC Vahalla! looks EPIC based on the new trailer

but I got the same tingling down my spine and leg when AC 3 was adverstized. How it seemed UbiSoft had made revolutionary steps adding new crafting mechanics. Revamping and adapting the climbing system from a closed cell with walls to an open world space/forest with trees. The legendary new tomahawk. The list of promised new game play features was so wonderfully immersive and mind boggling. Then the game released. And all my expectations and hopes were cruelly dashed. Became a certified cynic until Black Flag which restored some fragments of my faith. Only to find myself once again losing my religion as Ubisoft descended along the Exceptional @.$.$.holes route to Purgatory. Transforming the franchise into an annual title with cancerous online live service micro transactions. By AC Origins, I'd given up all hope and retired to exclusively playing AC Brotherhood and Black Flag.

Then a miracle happened. Fortune had it that UbiSoft -- unlike the Exceptional @.$.$.holes -- actually possessed an amazing capacity for perception. And was intuitive enough to both LISTEN and LEARN from the disillusionment of its disenfranchised fan base. AC Odyssey was the result, which thankfully restored my faith in the franchise. This timely franchise reboot was still afflicted with the toxic online live service/macro transaction feature (which is unfortunately here to stay). But the store feature wasn't invasive or disruptive to game play. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they won't loose perspective this time around. Continue this middle ground with Vahalla and stay true to the story/RPG elements which made AC 2 Brotherhood and Blag Flag so great.

But the pragmatic cynic in me has braced me for the worst. In which case, que sera, sera. I'll stay just as happy immersing myself in the universe of CP 2077

I hope its more assassin based game play than hack and slash. Vikings seem like more hack and slash on the way but you never known. The first and second will always hold special places in my heart.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

That is subjective, apparently as this is exactly why the game doesn't have much appeal in my opinion.
But like I said earlier, I fully recognize that my disinterest in Egypt is quite uncommon.

Oh I missed that.
To me, most of Greece apart a few nice islands was boring a bit, especially disliked the Autumn-esque foliage.
I'm not sure if I can discount that, but I preferred lighting in Origins too.

Gameplay-wise, I dislike the powerboat-ancient sailing gameplay in Odyssey. While travelling was nice change of pace, naval combat was never particularly appealing. 'Manning' the ship with lightly dressed olympic women was fun though.

 

[True Phoenix]

Having fun with Everspace at the moment, not my normal type of game, I prefer MMO / PvP but struggling to find a good space game.....

 

[[PS4 Pro - PC] earthtone99]

Terminator Resistance.

Not the best FPS I've ever played, but faithful to the first film and nicely atmospheric with a good soundtrack. Like a better looking and smoother future shock.

Good for fans of the original genre before it all went pants.

So, I bought Terminator Resistance late on Friday evening for £15.99, with a plan of playing nothing but this game over the weekend. A nice break from ELITE.

My impressions match Stigbob’s, it’s an odd one, but a good one. We have a major level franchise, with a game developed by an indie studio.

Here’s my whole impression of the game:

At first, you might think, well it’s an indie game, so it’s probably rubbish given the bad track record movie to game, or game to movie have had in the past. But, quite surprisingly this game (certainly for any T1 & T2 fans) is really good and very enjoyable.

It’s heavily reminiscent of the superb Terminator: Future Shock and Skynet games by early Bethesda from the 90’s. If you have ever played these games and enjoyed them, definitely check this one out.

The opening sequence is very cool, but then the next hour or two is quite poor. Some could be put off at this point, and miss out on the spectacle ahead. When you make it to the medical centre mission. Boy does the game completely change pace and ‘feel’.

It’s especially atmospheric, mostly during the night missions with all that lovely lighting and mood ripped straight out of the future war scenes we hoped Terminator Salvation was going to be. The day missions unfortunately are not at the same quality as the night ones. It’s here where some of the games poorer aspects are far more evident in this beige/brown Fallout kind of poor texturing.

The good stuff, finally the proper ‘Future War’ as it should look and feel. Weapon sounds and firefights combine to look and sound exactly as you want them to. The Terminators thankfully have some of the best texturing in the game.
The graphics are somewhere between Fallout 3 & 4, the Metro series (Lighting, environment), Rage PS3 etc.

Right, for the rest of the bad stuff, the voice acting is mostly atrocious. The protagonists voice actor being one of the best in the game. Some of the dialog is very poor. There are no high quality textures, anything up close is rough and pixelated. The AI is sometimes abysmal, a Terminator will literally stand still and not track you down. Other times they won’t give up, but these instances are rare.

I’m looking forward to CyberPunk 2077 too.

 

[askavir]

After a long period of sucessful detox, I could no longer resist anymore and fell again into the clutches of Football Manager.

Only Cyberpunk 2077 or Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 can save me now...

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Also for all you Odyssey fans, for those who don't know, the same team who developed Odyssey now works on a game called "Gods and Monsters".
It looks rather lovely, I have to say. It has a hand-drawn graphic style, it is also an open world set in ancient Greece, this time around it's a pure fantasy based on mythology, though. I suppose it will be filled with ideas that didn't make the cut for AC:O. It's planned for late 2020 release after a delay from February and I'm really looking forward to it.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzHQHpxzKYY

I don't mind artstyles like this. It looks good to me. What I don't get behind is young protagonists like that. I rather play an adult.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Ahhh, Traveller on Wednesday has everyone in the galaxy out to kill us, and most players backstabbing each other.

The use of tools like Microsoft Teams is making a great change in face-to-face roleplaying games. Three of our group were missing on Wednesday, due to the various conferencing issues. Naturally, they were the first three nearly killed in that session's encounter...

Another challenge for us is which version to use. Our referee (as the GM is called) uses the Mongoose system. Andy is forever searching for perfect game mechanics. I use Classic Traveller, with a few add on's. It's simpler.

Notably, "legs" takes preference over "space". Very little of the space-based portion of the game gets played. It's like Elite, versus so many other sci-fi games. Only a few of us really enjoy the cockpit time, compared to the first-person aspects of most games. Most of you are familiar with my opinion that you cannot do both, well.

Ye, I once rolled a navy Captain. First session was about how Captain loses the ship.

 

[Chris Simon]

I don't mind artstyles like this. It looks good to me. What I don't get behind is young protagonists like that. I rather play an adult.

Age and gender of a protagonist have never been an issue for me, interestingly enough. If they are likeable, I connect really easily.
I guess you didn't enjoy Life is Strange, then?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Age and gender of a protagonist have never been an issue for me, interestingly enough. If they are likeable, I connect really easily.
I guess you didn't enjoy Life is Strange, then?

Never played any Naughty Dog or wossname Telltale game. Visual Novel? Just doesn't interest me. It's not so much gender and age - it's more about the improbable role they represent. Combat Hero just doesn't seem likely with a teenager. I happily play the other gender - and if it's just to look at a curvy butt. But it's more often just assuming a different perspective. I can play kid characters if they're believable. This one just seems over the top.

 

[Mole HD]

Never played any Naughty Dog or wossname Telltale game. Visual Novel? Just doesn't interest me. It's not so much gender and age - it's more about the improbable role they represent. Combat Hero just doesn't seem likely with a teenager. I happily play the other gender - and if it's just to look at a curvy butt. But it's more often just assuming a different perspective. I can play kid characters if they're believable. This one just seems over the top.

I liked the main protagonists in a Plague tale: Innocence...it kinda fit very well with the story and voice acted by child actors. Surprisingly good game and very immersive.

 

[who?]

Just finished Ghost Recon Wildlands.. actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Certainly fairly repetitive, but so are most open-world games.

Started on Breakpoint in the last few days, and... finding it hard to get into. Apart from a lot of bugs (& plausibility issues) - what the hell is wrong with the vehicle sounds? I actually started laughing the first time I tried to drive a truck. It's almost as if the game has just two vehicle sounds: idle, and CHAINSAW-BRRRRRRRING-IN-YOUR-EAR. It's ok if you're sitting idling, or driving flat out. But if you're trying to balance the throttle - as you would be, driving along narrow dirt roads - the sound is incredibly annoying.

I've actually taken to walking across the island everywhere, because I just can't stand the truck/bike noises.