SubJeff on 24/10/2019 at 23:58
Dishonored 2.
I just never got it. I played the demo a bit and then...
The new Deus Ex games. Did a fair bit of HR but never finished.
I enjoyed Max Payne 3. It's similar enough to be a proper sequel but different enough to be interesting.
Half Life 2 IS fun. There are some great bits to that game. I loved all the vehicle sections, really really loved them.
But I get you - I get put off really easily these days.
froghawk on 25/10/2019 at 00:55
Not a fan of MP3 at all. The gameplay is fine, but removing the noir/comic/surreal elements took the personality out of it and it's too damn long.
Alan Wake - make sure you play the DLC. That's where the real ending AND the best gameplay is. The main game is majorly padded to make it feel like a full release since they clearly cut off the ending to sell it later. It becomes a real slog towards the end of the main game, but the DLC makes it all worth it.
HL2 stands up with time.
demagogue on 25/10/2019 at 02:28
I used to have a whole spiel about HL2--I can't call it a rant because it included the impressive things about it--but it's hardly worth having it now as we're already into the next regime at this point. I mean HL2 is the defining game that initiated and defined that regime of FPS adventure gaming from 2004~... actually I'm not sure what defines the current regime. GTA5 is the current standard-bearer maybe. (Well this is a whole other discussion.)
But HL2 was the major turning point and poster child for AAA games that were almost too polished and cinematic for their own good. I played HL2 around maybe 2008 or 2010 or so, and I remember thinking wow, this has almost every trope in all the FPS coming out, and this is the game that evidently made all of these tropes a thing. So I recognized how influential and defining it was. I had fun playing it, but I felt like it was way too constructed. (For HL1, being constructed worked because each scene was its own set-piece of this evolving story.) I think where the whole thing just gave up the ghost was around the time you started playing gravity ball with the robo-dog, and I realized this doesn't even have the pretense of being a real world I'm in with a real story. The other moment was during the bug-swarm parts; I realized it doesn't actually matter how many bugs you kill, 5 or 50, the game seems to calibrate it so it feels like the same indistinguishable "swarm" you have to "get through" no matter what. (These aren't really spoilers, but I think it's still best to go into a good game fresh without knowing what's coming.)
It was the initiation of cinematic FPS adventures but the tacit dumping of immersive sim thinking. So I had mixed feelings. But it was still undeniably slick and fun to play as an FPS, and had some great scenes, both the fantastic art direction and the scale and ambition of some scenes, and the well-thought-out gameplay to fit (again sometimes too thought out). I would still recommend everyone play it.
The reason HL2 is still particularly special to me above the sum of its parts is the same reason Thief2 is so special; they were both the platform for countless fan levels, many of which were really creative and experimental and inspired (and many of which were dregs, but even then often unique).
Starker on 25/10/2019 at 05:10
I haven't had much time to play games the past three years or so, as it seems these days I only go home to sleep and wash and the bastards don't allow me to install
any software at work. Instead, I spend most of my downtime mainly by reading books and news articles and consequently have missed a lot of the more important recent releases: Persona 5, Nier Automata, new God of War, Bayonetta 2, DMC 5, and many more. And I've started and failed to finish The Witcher 3 twice now.
But when it comes long neglected games, there are two that really stand out that I've known about for a long time, yet never got around to actually playing: Myst and Diablo. As for the first, I'm actually a pretty big adventure game fan and have a moderate interest in puzzles as well and as for the other, I've always heard about how addictive and influential it was, so I really want to see for myself what made them such big hits. On the other hand, I can't help but think I'll be disappointed and experience the (
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny) Seinfeld is Unfunny effect after having played modern games like Torchlight that came after.
Malf on 25/10/2019 at 10:30
Starker, having played both Bayo 2 and DMC5, which would you say is better?
I love Bayo 2, which has set a new high bar for me in Japanese spectacle fighters, but I've been cautious about picking up DMC5, fearing that it won't have something as satisfying as Bayo's Witch Time / Dodge Offset combo.
Starker on 25/10/2019 at 11:04
Um, I have played neither. That's why I want to play them. :)
Shadowcat on 25/10/2019 at 11:16
Quote Posted by Starker
Diablo [...] I've always heard about how addictive and influential it was, so I really want to see for myself
If it helps you to abandon that idea (perhaps you care about the health of your fingers), be aware that Diablo is the game of a million mouse clicks. Every single thing you do -- in particular
every single hack and every single slash of combat -- means a new independent click of the mouse button. It makes the game hellish in ways which I really don't think they were trying to convey. It's still an addictive game -- but maybe you don't want to get addicted to something with a UI like that.
Malf on 25/10/2019 at 12:26
Quote Posted by Starker
Um, I have played neither. That's why I want to play them. :)
D'oh, skim-reading at work :D
Well, I can highly recommend Bayo 2. While the story's a little less fun and camp than that of Bayo 1, the gameplay is by far and away superior, with the dreaded QTEs being almost completely excised and Bayo herself just feeling a bit
snappier. The difficulty curve is also significantly smoother, and the game's far better at teaching you how to play than the first.
Starker on 25/10/2019 at 12:40
Quote Posted by Shadowcat
If it helps you to abandon that idea (perhaps you care about the health of your fingers), be aware that Diablo is the game of a million mouse clicks. Every single thing you do -- in particular
every single hack and every single slash of combat -- means a new independent click of the mouse button. It makes the game hellish in ways which I really don't think they were trying to convey. It's still an addictive game -- but maybe you don't want to get addicted to something with a UI like that.
Hmm.. can it be worse than the million games of Minesweeper I've played? Though it would probably be best not to add injury.
Quote Posted by Malf
D'oh, skim-reading at work :D
Well, I can highly recommend Bayo 2. While the story's a little less fun and camp than that of Bayo 1, the gameplay is by far and away superior, with the dreaded QTEs being almost completely excised and Bayo herself just feeling a bit
snappier. The difficulty curve is also significantly smoother, and the game's far better at teaching you how to play than the first.
The campiness is definitely a big part of the appeal for me (and DMC 5 seems to deliver on that front as well). I don't really have any problems with the difficulty, as long as the challenge is fun. And Clover/Platinum have always managed to deliver something enjoyable on that front.
WingedKagouti on 25/10/2019 at 13:08
Quote Posted by Starker
Hmm.. can it be worse than the million games of Minesweeper I've played? Though it would probably be best not to add injury.
Do you click 1-2 times per second playing Minesweeper? That's how brutal combat can sometimes be on your mouse/hand in Diablo 1.
While it is a very important game for historical purposes, it's not a game I consider "required playing" for gamers. My opinion on the Half-Life series is pretty much the same.