The "Currently Playing..." Topic

2016-02-04 06:26:16 pm

It's been a while since I played RE4. Why do you not have to worry about saving Ashley if you're just wearing another costume?

Toozin

2016-02-04 06:27:04 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

Because in the knight armor she doesn't take damage and if any plagas attempt to lift her they'll just get a sore back.

arkarian

2016-02-04 06:28:10 pm

red chamber dream

yeah, it makes ashley a complete non-factor in the game. you never have to worry about her at all

i do like ashley, and she's a great mechanic on your first playthrough, but it gets old when you just want to run through the game

ryu

2016-02-05 05:37:04 pm

So... Skyrim. I've played the game for a couple hours now and can say a few things.
Gotta start off saying that I didn't like the game at all during the first 1 1/2 hours or so. The opening part really bugged me with its hand-holding, and once I got out of that the game became so open so abruptly I was just left confused. It took me a while to just accept that it's best to just follow the quest markers on the map. Then I just got lost in the cities, felt they were too large and open, had too many NPCs with too many dialogue options... I couldn't get into anything at all and just rushed through the main quest as fast as I could. All the while I was super bummed that there were no enemies to fight, and the outlands were just barren. I don't mind an open world to explore, but there's no point if you can't find anything interesting anywhere! When I got to the Jarl and his sorcerer I started to feel like playing the game like this, just rushing past everything, was OK as well because there were some dialogue choices that seemed to be explicitely there for players that just wanted to get in on the action. I started to feel better about the game at around that point, and genuinely started to enjoy it when I got to the bandit's tower near the dungeon where I was sent to find some dragon orb or something. Then the whole first dungeon was just great fun to play through. If this was a pure dungeon crawler I'd rank this game much higher. But maybe I can warm up even more to the non dungeon parts of the game over time.
Still, I'm not a friend of the setting and story so far. At least the atmosphere is great.

Now I gotta start figuring out stuff like forging and enchanting.... I guess. I can't get motivated because I feel like I've got no material items anyways.

Quote from arkarian:

dude, i ALWAYS play re4 with the knight armor now. not having to worry about ashley makes the game waaaaaaaay more fun on subsequent playthroughs. plus you get the pimp suit.

the only downside is that the armor makes this really fucking loud clanking noise lol

I stopped playing during my second playthrough because I kept failing to protect at a certain part that I didn't have trouble with on my first time lol

So... Skyrim. I've played the game for a couple hours now and can say a few things.
Gotta start off saying that I didn't like the game at all during the first 1 1/2 hours or so. The opening part really bugged me with its hand-holding, and once I got out of that the game became so open so abruptly I was just left confused. It took me a while to just accept that it's best to just follow the quest markers on the map. Then I just got lost in the cities, felt they were too large and open, had too many NPCs with too many dialogue options... I couldn't get into anything at all and just rushed through the main quest as fast as I could. All the while I was super bummed that there were no enemies to fight, and the outlands were just barren. I don't mind an open world to explore, but there's no point if you can't find anything interesting anywhere! When I got to the Jarl and his sorcerer I started to feel like playing the game like this, just rushing past everything, was OK as well because there were some dialogue choices that seemed to be explicitely there for players that just wanted to get in on the action. I started to feel better about the game at around that point, and genuinely started to enjoy it when I got to the bandit's tower near the dungeon where I was sent to find some dragon orb or something. Then the whole first dungeon was just great fun to play through. If this was a pure dungeon crawler I'd rank this game much higher. But maybe I can warm up even more to the non dungeon parts of the game over time.
Still, I'm not a friend of the setting and story so far. At least the atmosphere is great.

Now I gotta start figuring out stuff like forging and enchanting.... I guess. I can't get motivated because I feel like I've got no material items anyways.

[quote="arkarian"]dude, i ALWAYS play re4 with the knight armor now. not having to worry about ashley makes the game waaaaaaaay more fun on subsequent playthroughs. plus you get the pimp suit.

the only downside is that the armor makes this really fucking loud clanking noise lol[/quote]
I stopped playing during my second playthrough because I kept failing to protect at a certain part that I didn't have trouble with on my first time lol

arkarian

Edit history:

arkarian: 2016-02-05 05:54:22 pm

2016-02-05 05:53:35 pm

red chamber dream

skyrim is all about making your own fun and just exploring. there's lots of cool stuff that you might never see unless you spend some time just fucking around. do what sounds fun, don't do what doesn't sound fun. for me the main hook of the game was forging/enchanting, getting new skills, and getting to know the cities and the people in them.

there's also several factions you can join, all of which have some pretty cool quests. if you haven't checked out the wizarding college or thieves' guild yet, i highly recommend going to those.

and yeah there are plenty of monsters to fight, but they're mostly in caves/dungeons. that starts to change once you start fighting more dragons ;)

i'm with you in wishing there were more dungeons ... maybe in es6.

arkarian

2016-02-05 05:54:01 pm

red chamber dream

also it's kind of weird that you've already finished the main quest heh, but to each their own. i don't think i finished it until after 40 or so hours. i like to put it off until i'm way more leveled up

Toozin

2016-02-05 06:00:08 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

I always put off the main story as much as possible in Bethesda games because a game feels "complete" to me once the story is over, so I try to make it the last thing I do. Logically I know that it doesn't really matter if the story is over when there's more content to experience, it's just a weird hangup I have.

ryu

2016-02-05 06:11:52 pm

What else was there to do but do the main quest and talk to NPCs? It didn't look like there were any other dungeons around...

ryu

2016-02-05 06:13:32 pm

And the overworld was just empty as fuck except for the few towns, some fields and the bandits' tower

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:19:59 pm

red chamber dream

Quote from ryu:

What else was there to do but do the main quest and talk to NPCs? It didn't look like there were any other dungeons around...

the world is fucking HUGE. there are at least a dozen cities, all with dozens of people in them who will either talk to you or give you quests. you have to explore! the game does the opposite of holding your hand.

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:20:15 pm

red chamber dream

go up into the snowy mountains, see what you find

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:20:36 pm

red chamber dream

like i think skyrim literally has hundreds of quests

Toozin

2016-02-05 06:21:46 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

You're avoiding talking to people so of course you won't find any quests.

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:22:21 pm

red chamber dream

yeah and he said he's played for "a couple hours" ... you have just barely, barely, barely scratched the surface of the first 1% of that game lol

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:22:38 pm

red chamber dream

there is soooooooo much stuff to do in skyrim

ryu

2016-02-05 06:26:19 pm

Guess I'll try giving exploration and all that stuff another go next time I play

Toozin

2016-02-05 06:35:07 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

As far as forging goes, it's very grindy because everything you can craft at first is useless shit so you have to make a bunch of junk before anything you make is remotely useful. Enchanting is a slow start too, since you have to learn enchantments by breaking down enchanted items, but at least there's other ways of building your enchantment skill (like reloading enchanted weapons).

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:42:45 pm

red chamber dream

the good thing is you get exp every single time you enchant or forge something. so it's still worth doing

i gained tons of levels just by forging/enchanting after each day of exploring

arkarian

2016-02-05 06:42:54 pm

red chamber dream

it's the primary way i gain levels in fallout 4 too lol

Opium

2016-02-05 06:48:10 pm

I can relate to some of the feedback about Skyrim. I didn't play it as much as you before I poo-pooed it off and quit, but for me I think the issue is I just haven't played a game like that before. I've had this format of how a game basically works in my head for so many years, and I think I just couldn't accept that not all games follow that format that I've known for so long. I've never been into big modern RPG's before that are so open and full of overwhelming choice, not to mention the big learning curve that anyone new to that kind of game faces when it comes to codifed menus (at least they seem codified to a beginner) and huge inventories full of items that may not even be necessary to play the game. I think I must have felt the way someone feels who plays Ocarina for the first time after playing nothing but arcade games. I might check it out again someday.

Toozin

2016-02-05 06:54:16 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

You have to get yourself into the headspace that you are inside a fully functional world that doesn't necessarily revolve around you. People have schedules and needs that have nothing to do with saving the world. Some dude locks up his mug behind a master lock because he really likes that mug, not because it's a critical quest item that you need to pilfer. Just do what you do in real life and ignore the things that don't concern you.

arkarian

2016-02-05 07:06:14 pm

red chamber dream

i had the same problem when i played fallout 3. it was my first game of that sort too, and i didn't enjoy it much at all. then i played new vegas a couple years later and finally understood the mindset behind that sort of game. then i finally played skyrim and fucking loved it. so yeah it does take some getting used to

for me it's a place to spend hours just doing whatever i want in. i do think of it as a real world, and i enjoy getting to know the characters. and also murdering the annoying ones ;)

Toozin

2016-02-05 07:15:09 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

It is a bit weird after playing other games that are built around the player. Like, if you go into someone's house in Final Fantasy, it's very odd if there's nothing there for you. Usually you'll find a potion or some other thing, and you can just take it because that room and those items exist for you. If you go to a shop, it sells stuff you need. People talk about information relevant to you.

If you go into a house in Skyrim, however, it's most likely you won't find anything for you. That house exists because someone lives there. There's things in it because those are the things they own. You might find a potion, but it belongs to a guy and he'll call the guards on you if you take it. He might drink it if he gets hurt. It can feel like a complete waste of time, going into that house, because you as a player have gained nothing. But it exists in that world because it has to, because that guy has a life and he needs possessions and a place to sleep.

arkarian

Edit history:

arkarian: 2016-02-05 07:18:20 pm

2016-02-05 07:18:11 pm

red chamber dream

yeah, and it's important to note the game won't stop you from stealing something like that. you can do whatever you want. but there are always consequences ;)

Da Dood

2016-02-05 07:34:12 pm

Dood Trigger™

Finished DKC2, 102% complete.

Goddamn this game is great. Whether you're just breezing through it or looking for all the secrets, it is super rewarding and smooth. Not too many collectables, not an overly frustrating challenge, but not mindless either.

Diddy is crazy fast at everything, and Dixie has the copter move. They're my favorite team in the series. I'm not a fan of the heavy guys in DKC1 and 3, to be honest, and I wish Returns had the tag-team instead of just Diddy in a supporting role. The animal buddies here are the best of the best, too... I kinda miss the ostrich from 1 but the spider and the snake totally make up for it.

I didn't have much trouble beating the levels, not even Lost World. Animal Antics was the only one that took more than a couple of tries. That level is quite the endurance test. When I finally survived the Squawks section and I saw the snake barrel, I just started laughing (the nervous kind). Luckily I got through that last part without any more deaths.

Red Hot Ride took me the longest to find the DK Coin. Didn't remember that location at all. I jumped up there to collect the letter in one of my replays and ended up grabbing the DK as well. Well played, game.

Finished DKC2, 102% complete.

Goddamn this game is great. Whether you're just breezing through it or looking for all the secrets, it is super rewarding and smooth. Not too many collectables, not an overly frustrating challenge, but not mindless either.

Diddy is crazy fast at everything, and Dixie has the copter move. They're my favorite team in the series. I'm not a fan of the heavy guys in DKC1 and 3, to be honest, and I wish Returns had the tag-team instead of just Diddy in a supporting role. The animal buddies here are the best of the best, too... I kinda miss the ostrich from 1 but the spider and the snake totally make up for it.

I didn't have much trouble beating the levels, not even Lost World. Animal Antics was the only one that took more than a couple of tries. That level is quite the endurance test. When I finally survived the Squawks section and I saw the snake barrel, I just started laughing (the nervous kind). Luckily I got through that last part without any more deaths.

Red Hot Ride took me the longest to find the DK Coin. Didn't remember that location at all. I jumped up there to collect the letter in one of my replays and ended up grabbing the DK as well. Well played, game.