henke on 28/12/2017 at 06:34
Episode 2 starts in Mystery Lake, the first area from the old version. It's been altered since then, but I still recognize landscape features here and there.
The difficulty is very well tuned. Even though I'm playing carefully, mending my clothes, staying warm, staying well-fed, there are still moments when I get turned around in the woods, end up lost and almost freezing to death. Those are the best moments. The decision not to include a compass is a good one. You only have your memory of the landscape and a map that doesn't show your location to guide your way.
henke on 31/12/2017 at 13:49
Ugh, I think I'm done with this.
Without spoiling too much, the final bit of Episode 2 relies on a random event happening. I've been sitting around waiting for it for 5 days now (in-game time) but it's just not happening. Aaaaand it's kinda annoying as fuck.
twisty on 4/9/2018 at 13:28
I finally got around to giving Wintermute a proper playthrough after abandoning it several times shortly after the story version was released. While I loved survival mode, I was originally ambivalent about the story version mainly due to some low production values (the ugly models used for the two main characters, animations, and an aurora bug that has since been fixed) and after losing my 100+ day survival mode save as a consequence of the update (which they warned about so I can't really complain).
All that aside, my criticisms soon fell away the more I played of it, rekindling a lot of what appealed to me in survival mode but now with more of a purpose than just endless survival. Speaking of which, the difficulty curve seems somewhat inconsistent as it starts off easy but suddenly jumps in difficulty once you pass the first
cave, where there are few resources available until you reach the area near the town; things improve again but then becomes much easier once you reach the final section in Mystery Lake. Strangely, after this all this time you are forced to complete a survival tutorial from Jeremiah before you can start to work towards completing the final section of the last available chapter. Despite that and some other minor issues, I really enjoyed it and found myself drawn in by its intriguing storyline that gradually builds and gets more interesting as more details are unravelled.
Quote Posted by henke
Nearing the end of Episode 2. Just took down the Old Bear that stalks Mystery Lake. It was an epic, drawn-out ordeal. During out first 3 encounters he just shrugged off my rifle-shots as he charged me, mauled me, and then ran off. I didn't notice until I checked the inventory screen that he'd shredded most of my clothes right off my body. Ran around without any shoes on for a while there, rifle in hand, as I hunted him down.
Hmnn... I experienced the same thing. I wonder if it was scripted that way? I pressed on as well until I finished him off and came very close to getting hypothermia due to my headwear getting shredded as well. Unfortunately I didn't get the
aurora event until 10 or so days after that so had to contend with the hypothermia risk on a regular basis as I had previously harvested all other headgear into cloth the Mystery lake section. In some way this was a welcome addition given the interminable wait for the event to occur as it added some needed tension. All said however, the ending that followed made it worth playing through and really leaves me excited to see where they take the story in the final chapters.
henke on 15/12/2019 at 15:31
Maybe it's that the current Finnish winter just isn't punishing enough for me, but I've been longing to get back to this game as we get closer to Christmas. Lately tho I've also not been too keen on PC gaming, since I sit at this very computer and do my day job (making amazing games), so I picked up the PS4 version of TLD during a recent sale. Finished Ep 1 and I'm about 1/3rd through Ep 2. I'm not noticing any huge changes in these new, remade versions of Ep 1 & 2. The opening bits have been improved, but besides that Ep 1 seemed about the same. Then again it was a couple years since I played Wintermute last, so my memory might be a bit foggy. Also finding the game super easy on Normal since I know where everything is, and wondering if I should've gone with Hard. Anyway, really enjoying the game again, and anxious to get to Ep 3!
twisty on 16/12/2019 at 10:56
The annoying aurora part has been tweaked now. It's also less linear than before. The bear battle is even more silly now; although I enjoyed the original more .
Episode 3 is really good. I've also been playing survival a little bit in the new locations that were released last week or so.
henke on 19/12/2019 at 19:11
Goddamn fucking timberwolves. Maybe it's easier to handle them on PC, but on PS4 they've made no concessions to aiming with a gamepad. No auto-aim, no aim-speed slowing down when the reticle is near an enemy. It's super hard to hit them, and most of my run-ins with the timberwolves are just a drawn-out ordeal of me firing all my precious bullets into the snow and swearing while the wolves rip chunks out of my clothes and skin.
Besides that tho, I'm enjoying Ep 3. I really like the setup of caring for a large group of injured people and preparing for the coming storm. It's an unusual kind of powerfantasy for a video game, where it's not about making you feel powerful, but capable.
RE: the new bear battle. Yeah I wasn't crazy about it either, but then I didn't really like the old one either. The game is great when it's open world and driven by it's systems and emergence, but for the storybits they regularly go super-scripted, and the contrast makes it feel really gamey.
twisty on 21/12/2019 at 03:58
Controller challenge aside, the following tactics worked for me: use the terrain to your advantage (e.g. try to position yourself somewhere where you are only facing an assault from one direction, such as between a ridge and a tree); use marine flares; use the injured plane crash survivors as bait.
henke on 21/12/2019 at 08:08
Yeah, I'm doing all of those, except using survivors as bait. That's cold, man. ¬_¬
I'm in the radio tower station now, dreading the final trek out of this place. It's cold as hell out there and I don't have anything on my head because the wolves have eaten every hat in Pleasant Valley, usually right off my head. When I find a new hat it's like I'm just acting as a walking serving tray for hat-hungry wolves.
henke on 21/12/2019 at 12:28
Realized I could craft an improvised headwrap. That saved my ears from falling off due to frostbite, and I made it to the end.
Ep 3 was really good overall, and a much harsher survival challenge than Eps 1 & 2, playing on Normal. Towards the end I did get a better handle of fighting the wolves as well, managed to take down a couple in my final confrontation with them.
Has anyone here played Artico yet? Looks like it might scratch the same itch TLD does.
[video=youtube;4JDUgMYze8w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JDUgMYze8w[/video]
I picked it up a while ago but haven't played it yet. Still in EA, but getting updated several times per month.
