Game: What game are you currently playing??

[Animeniax]

Destiny is getting ready to go live. Anyone planning on playing?

I have it on pre-order, which might be unfortunate as all of my previous pre-ordered games turned out to be crappy games.

Also looking forward to Dead Rising 3 on PC. That way I don't have to buy a "next gen" console to play it.

[Carnage]

Fuck I wish people still played CS Source. Tried searching cs_italy servers a few weeks ago and they were almost all empty except for one that was full with like 50 players.

[Archangel]

Why would people still play source? It's just global offensive with shittier graphics, worse UI and less balancing. You might make a point 1.6 is enough its own thing that people prefer it to the latest version but CSGO is better than source in every way.

[Carnage]

Why would people still play source? It's just global offensive with shittier graphics, worse UI and less balancing. You might make a point 1.6 is enough its own thing that people prefer it to the latest version but CSGO is better than source in every way.

I don't know, nostalgia maybe? I haven't seriously played any other FPS games since ~2006 so the UI is what I'm used to. Shapes in GO look more cartoonish to me, I miss the original maps, and the graphics were fine for me. Not saying that CSGO isn't better, but I'd like to be able to play source again. Don't think that's a sin.

[Archangel]

Just scored a used copy of pokemon Y for 10 euros, anyone wanna trade friend codes for the 3DS?

[Xelbair]

Heroes of the Storm

Blizzards take on MOBA genre follows up in hearthstone's shoes - casual game with short matches. While Hearthstone was really bad due its random mechanics(too much of them for anyone who played other card games - it feels like coin toss, not a duel).. this game gets held down by players - while it was supposed to be simplier than other mobas(lack of items, common exp), it forces players to cooperate... if your team has one less person willing to cooperate than other - game is lost. no way to really outplay your oponents, comebacks are really hard - first early kills determine who will win the game usually.

Heroes so far do not seem to be balanced, yet. but i don't think that it will be a problem with this game. Graphics are nice, but where it shines is the talent system - even if there is same hero in enemy team - his or hers skills will work differently.

Another nice additon is a variety of maps - which add secondary objectives other than "push the lane to win" - they are usually variation on gathering: grab more skulls than your enemy to summon stronger skeleton, get seeds faster so you can get your own plant golem faster, gather coins and give them to pirate so he can bombard enemy base with cannons, control two shrines to change one of your teammates into giant dragon knight.

While objectives are secondary, they are main focus of the maps - you can win without them... but only if enemy team is not using them - they are bascially your main objective.


After a while, especially when game is out of alpha, and with bigger player base it might be pretty fun and competetive MOBA.. but i'm not sure if it will reach LoL or Dota2 level of hype when it comes to tournaments unless blizzards decides to pump a lot of money into competetive scene.


it is also weird that going into 5man groups very early is really helpful compared to other MOBAS(with exception of few heroes).

[toonice714]

Super smash bros ds is definitely a different setup for me! I am currently trying hard to make the jump from platform to handheld.

Pretty much, the execution is the same for all you brawl players out there. RAR (reverse air rush) techniques still work, standing dash grab has now been changed as a shield cancel for faster grab animation, and turn canceling techniques are still present. Overall, the game still retains a heavy replay value for smash fans. I like the portability for classics like this.

New characters that have joined the roster have changed the game's mechanics slightly. Smash attacks are still pretty effective, but ssbds has gone back to its roots while still remaining true to the new brawl model. Knock back moves are stronger than they were like the 64 version. Not universally though. Grabs and certain techniques are still specific to character size and weight. However multihitting moves are a more viable option with a haymaker finish to most 100 hand slap variations.

Aside from generally increasing the roster smash bros dhs is definitely more expansive with the new smash modes like smash un and old favorites like cruel smash/100man/etc. I haven't gotten a chance to try street smash yet. The tutorial gives off a beyblade-esque feel but I guess I'll have to take it to the streets

All in all definitely worth picking up for casual and hardcore play! If anyone wants to play sometime feel free to drop you friend code off :)
5215-1914-1148

[Assertn]

Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

If you liked the original, it's pretty much that plus a shit-ton of more content.
If you didn't like the original, figure out what's wrong with you, then play this game.

[shinta|hikari]

Battle Moon Wars.

Thank god I finished Ataraxia first before starting this. It makes all the difference. Type Moon holiday season!

[Animeniax]

I know it's a little late for it but if anyone is playing Destiny on PS3 and wants to friend up to do missions and raids, my handle is DoberReiner. I have a lvl 31 Titan and 31 Warlock.

[Buffalobiian]

Started playing some GTA:V on PC. The last GTA I played was Vice City and I've forgotten how shitty the handling of the cars were...

So far it's alright, but you'll notice at the whole First Person thing doesn't feel as smooth as some first person RPGs that were designed that way from the beginning such as Far Cry. That is, until you mod the game for VR. The free head movements make it sooo much better.


http://youtu.be/bQnm1yv8vgU

[Abdula]

No amount of GTA will get me used to this.
I have been in America for so long and gotten so accustomed to it that I really have forgotten that most of the rest of the world drives on the other side of the road I remember how damned disorienting it was initially.

As far as the general handling of vehicles in the game I think it is actually pretty good. Up your driving skill, mod your cars particularly transmission, suspension and traction (braking if you rely on it) and generally just drive better cars. I recommend Grottis. The driving skill and the upgrades on the car make a significant difference and handling varies greatly from car to car.

[Ryllharu]

I have been in America for so long and gotten so accustomed to it that I really have forgotten that most of the rest of the world drives on the other side of the road I remember how damned disorienting it was initially.

Wut?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg

"Today, about 65% of the world's population lives in countries with right-hand traffic and 35% in countries with left-hand traffic. About 90% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the right and 10% on the left"

[Edort4]

When I read it I was thinking the same. Only a few countries came to mind. And half of that 35% population comes only from India. Not going into controversy (I know how patriot the anglo-saxons are) but with this driving thing happened the same thing that happens with the international metric system. Baseless sttubornnes. Nowadays it would be prohibitively expensive to change it but if done like Sweden did in the 60s, when more than 2/3 of the world came to an agreement, not only would everybody travel more relaxed, blue countries would have their driving accidents reduced (as many studies and practical changes like the one of Sweden have proved).

[Abdula]

Ha, I love you guys. Thank you for the correction it was much appreciated, I honestly have no explanation for typing that other than being brain dead from exhaustion. Reading about the switch in Sweden was fascinating. I would like a reference to a study that has some actual stats that indicate that driving on the right is actually safer. Couldn't find anything definitive in the quick search I did and it seems that there are a lot of other factors that would go into that.

[David75]

Been playing WGT golf for a while.Lots of people comment this is a good golf game. It's a nice game. But I doubt anyone with 1 month pratice would consistently drive over 270 yards... That you can do in the game.
Conversly, I doubt anyone would have below 50% efficiency in under 5 foot easy putts... Which happens in that very frustrating part of the game. But they need money, so they have to frustrate players...
Like other such games, it's either a time or money black-hole. For some it's both. But you can play it for free and get good equipment with promotion videos (very time consuming), surveys, partnerships and direct money.

[Alhuin]

Steam had their Summer sale this past week, and I ended up buying Dragon Ball Xenoverse. With the Buu arc of Kai ending, and Super starting in a few weeks, the Dragon Ball hype is real right now, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I mean, I heard it was like Budokai, and I actually liked those.

Steam says I've played about 6.5 hours so far, and I'm already almost level 40 (max is 80, I think). 54% through story mode (30-something% overall). The game is fun, but I feel like I'm going through it so fast, and then there's not going to be anything to do at the end. Even with the DLC that came with the bundle. I don't know, maybe I'm missing out on something.

I am very impressed with the graphics and gameplay though.

[Alhuin]

I picked up Hyperdimension Neptunia on Steam a few weeks ago. I've only completed Chapter 2 so far (out of 8 total), but I'm enjoying it immensely. It's not a typical RPG; it's more like a VN with a side of RPG customization/battles. It has a very interesting story though, and there are several gaming-culture references throughout. Plenty of 4th-wall breaking content as well.

I recommend checking it out if you like VNs and RPGs.

[LaZie]

Finally played Dark Souls 2 I picked up months ago used. Frustrating at times and a blast most of the time.

[MFauli]

Still playing Super Mario Maker, over 30 hours already, lol.

And re-started Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for a bit of a contrast.

[Buffalobiian]

(Re: CS:GO)CS is one of the games I consider fun to watch when pros play it on tournaments, but boring otherwise.
I kinda regret buying it, I don't like the spray-pattern system either

As in the fact that there IS a spray pattern, or how the crosshair doesn't follow the bullet spray? I can't spray beyond the 5th bullet or so anyway. Bursting for me all the way.

The latest update fixed a bunch of stuff and gave new animations to models. It's been fun regardless however. This is now my staple game.

I've been rising through skill groups gradually this year, but it seems like a general trend done by Valve. I'm not even sure there are many Silvers around anymore.

-------------------------

I finished Batman Arkham Knight a little while ago. It worked fine on my PC. Guess I was one of the lucky ones (or one of the few who didn't uncap the framerate and left it on 30fps). <3 the Joker.

[KrayZ33]

As in the fact that there IS a spray pattern

That one, the inaccuracy is relatively small compared to the spray pattern.
Example: The AK and M4 have a "T" shaped pattern, it goes up, then right, then left. Just doesn't feel right to me. Bullets will never hit below your crosshair, but always above. The result is: you end up aiming at the ground when spraying and not the center of the body you wish to hit

-----------------------------------


Played MGS5:TPP

what a great game, took me ~100 hours. A certain Side Op made me very sad (ended up using the cassette tape as Pequod's theme) and the ending came as a suprise to me. Liked the way how all the dots were connected in the end. Especially if you consider what happened in Metal Gear (not Solid).
Too bad they cut out Ep.51. The unfinished cutscene of said mission looked like it could've been *alot* of fun.

GOTY imho.
The songs used in this game are so unbelievable fitting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLoytewvn0g
It's really amazing how much effort they put into it.
And you only start to realize some of it later on. Way too awesome.
...
V has come to.

[NeoCybercoin]

Since The Taken King was released for Destiny..that has been my main reason to play these days.

[Buffalobiian]

That one, the inaccuracy is relatively small compared to the spray pattern.
Example: The AK and M4 have a "T" shaped pattern, it goes up, then right, then left. Just doesn't feel right to me. Bullets will never hit below your crosshair, but always above. The result is: you end up aiming at the ground when spraying and not the center of the body you wish to hit

I see.

Ironically, Spray-and-Pray is actually viable in CS provided you know the pattern compensation while it's actually impossible to do in more realistic games. Some guns like the P90 actually have a random pattern though, but compensate by having good running accuracy.

[Buffalobiian]

I found a website dedicated to keeping your aim the same between different games.

http://www.mouse-sensitivity.com/forum/

I've been doing things manually for a while. This sounds great for pedantic people like me. It's not always appropriate because some games require faster movement than others but I'm all for consistency. I can have a "fast shooter" and a "slow shooter" setting now to base them off.

[Shadow Skill]

Destiny - After 4 weeks and countless runs of each Hard/Heroic mode map. I finally got most of the new level 40, 400 light Year 3 re-release exotics and legendary gear from the 390 light runs on Destiny.

I don't feel so stressed now that I got most of that out of the way. So many challenges. So many nub people to train/carry.

This is the awesome exclusive content PS4 version of Destiny and not that cheap knock off Destiny that has zero exclusives, Xbone.

[shinta|hikari]

Who else played Nier Automata?

[Buffalobiian]

I was playing it a bit but didn't get too far. Then I was too busy farming Mercy skins.

[shinta|hikari]

You should get back to it. It's assome.

[Kraco]

It's assome.

I haven't got the game but I have learned its assomeness from the endless, and very justified, fanart.

[Shadow Skill]

Got my copy of Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age Collectors Edition in the mail on Friday. Been playing since then. So far seems good.

-Edit-

I forgot how grindy this game is lol.

Anyone that cares to watch someone else play I am streaming my gameplay here https://www.twitch.tv/jamiecchi

[Koyuki]

Injustice 2 and just finished Ratchet and Clank. Going back to Nioh

[Buffalobiian]

Destiny 2 runs really damn smoothly. I'm impressed with how polished it is technically. Game-wise it's entertaining for now.

[Koyuki]

Where are you playing it?

[shinta|hikari]

I'm waiting for my Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. It should come Saturday. I can finally conclude that stupid cliffhanger of the anime.

EDIT: It arrived today WOOT.

[shinta|hikari]

Just finished Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth.

This is an amazing game. The story, art, music, voice acting, and yes, even gameplay is great. The difficulty is a little too easy on default, but an easy toggle for hard mode fixes that.

For those who liked Utawarerumono (the first series, not the new one), this is a must play. It actually concludes the story that was sorta left hanging there. Even if you hated the second series, you will absolutely love this direct sequel game. It has politics, strategy, battles, and harem building in droves, just like the old game. The main character is a heroic bad ass, and all the heroines are adorable and interesting. It was worth it getting a Vita, a decision I used to regret, just for this game. You can also play it on PS4.

Now I will start playing Trails of Cold Steel 2 to fill the hole that is this (On)kami-ge.

[Buffalobiian]

I just finished Sekiro's various endings + Platinum achievement.

It's been a really fun 120hrs all up for 4 playthroughs. The first 60mins was spent figuring out the first playthrough's bosses and going around collecting stuff. The subsequent runs were much easier actually. My final run was one of the hardest because I selected the option to suffer chip damage from blocking without perfect parries.

I'm quite fine with the idea of "learn to parry or die" without having to worry about builds, stats and the like. It does make for less replayability, but I still replayed this 4 times anyway for the endings alone.

I played Nioh probably a year ago, and even though there's more replayability on paper due to more weapons and builds, I only played it through 3-4x as well.

My advice going forward for anyone starting out would be:

1) Don't read guides, just play the first playthrough doing whatever you want. You can read up for completion later. Read boss guides if you get frustratingly stuck, rather than as a rule. It's more fun that way.

2) Re-map Attack to "X" (xbox) or "Square" (PS4), and dodge/sprint to "RB/R1". It's so good to be able to sprint around with both thumbs on sticks to control movement/camera. The earlier you do it, the less it'll mess with any muscle memory you've built up to date.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm planning to play it because it has 2B and Mysterious Heroine X skins.

Will only finish once then watch endings online.

Currently playing Yakuza 2 Kiwami. It has the best combat system for the franchise to date.

I just finished Grisaia: Phantom Trigger episode 6. It made me cry. More dead masters for protags...

[Killa-Eyez]

Currently on Fortnite (I know, I know...) and Tekken 7. Basically turn of the brain and unwind. Check my YT channel below for same gameplay of various games if you'd like.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKZBif9NW_PVrE52YtcuIIA

[Buffalobiian]

Just finished Dark Souls Remastered after having played Sekiro.

It's pretty fun. Very rudimentary combat compared to Sekiro, but the world/atmosphere/lore and RPG elements do make up for it. It was actually fairly hard for me at first until I found the Black Knight (ultra)Great Sword, then threw enough strength into to carry me through the game.

I finished the game without intending to (thank god for their "Do you wish to start a new game cycle?" question in later games) so now I'll have to at least do ~50% of it to access the DLC content I missed.

I also didn't really kill any NPCs in my first run, so maybe I'll do it for kicks this time for new content.

I've been trying to get opinions about whether or not DS2 is any good. Opinions online seem quite polarized. I own DS3 but not DS2.

[shinta|hikari]

All Dark Souls games are good. They aren't different enough to say one is significantly better than the other, except graphics.

I quit Sekiro. Too much stealth required.

[KrayZ33]

I'm currently (and have been playing for a while by now since it's release) FFXIV-Shadowbringers

I am finally able to play the Savage-Raids with friends, even though we have to take a Random with us to fill the last slot.
God I love that game, the music, art/character design, the bossdesign (not too difficult, basically 100% mechanics) and the story.

Always stopped after 1 or 2 patches in each expansion because we couldn't find people to raid with that are on our wavelength.

I hope that I'll be able to play the next hardmode 8-man raids too.

[Buffalobiian]

I just finished Anime Dark Souls Code Vein. It was pretty cool. It took some 70hrs to complete it on the first run while also not using the AI partner for most of the game (I left it off for all boss fights because I liked it that way, but enabled them for the latter part of the dungeons and for exploring the final area because getting ganked sucks balls).

I started with the English voices and that was pretty good.. but then changed to Japanese after and yeah... it was better. In the "bad end", Louis's English line also completely changes meaning through it's nauances compared to the Japanese.

Spoiler/Elaboration of the above:

-Situation: in the bad end, you take in all the relics and start going beserk. Louis appears behind you and backstabs you to stop you from doing so.

-In the English version, in a rather aggresive tone he says "Leave this to me" as if to mean Leave killing the MC to me (since he stopped Jack from killing you)

-In the Japanese version, his whipsers in your ear as he backstabs you "The rest, you can leave to me/us", as if to say he'll take care of the relics and world order after stopping your rampage. This version is more in keeping with his character and the post-game screen. /end-spoiler

And best girl? During the game it'd have to be Eva. She oozes sexiness in voice and demeanor. The plot heavily favours Io however, and all the endings pull on your heart strings re: her story in that regard so there's a soft spot for her as well.

[Shadow Skill]

PS4 - Modern Warfare

[shinta|hikari]

(I left it off for all boss fights because I liked it that way, but enabled them for the latter part of the dungeons and for exploring the final area because getting ganked sucks balls)

How did you deal with the dual bosses?

[Buffalobiian]

How did you deal with the dual bosses?


https://youtu.be/0d_v2oASpTQ?t=702

Winning fight starts at ~12:00. The fight finished with 10 seconds of Final Journey left.

[shinta|hikari]

This merely looks like the player is waaay over leveled for this fight. When I fought these bozos, 4 solid hits would kill me, and I did half the damage this player did. All the hits I see the player tanking are easily dodged.

[Buffalobiian]

This merely looks like the player is waaay over leveled for this fight. When I fought these bozos, 4 solid hits would kill me, and I did half the damage this player did. All the hits I see the player tanking are easily dodged.

Lol that was me playing.

I've forgotten what level I was going into this fight. Maybe 70? I was 76 prior to fighting Successor of the Throat, so I was at least that.

As for tanking them, that was pretty much my idea going into it. Increasing attack buffs and using Cleansing Light for healing half the damage dealt back to me while trying to take down Blade Bearer.
Fire tonic and ice tonic were used pre-fight to help with the tanking.

Damage-wise, that's probably based on Gifts. Noble Silver buffs Light gifts, which in this case meant stacking Final Journey, Bridge of Glory and Adrenaline. Cleansing Light also counts as a light gift. Throwing that into a Fortified Zweihander gives pretty good results.

As time went on throughout the game, I've found that my success corresponds quite well to how many successful Dragon Lunges I end up landing on a boss.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah shinta, you need to change your build to do out-and-out damage on Blade Bearer. Once she's down, the fight is very straight forward.

Caster builds are also super effective for soloing the two of them. It's also really easy to make one-shot builds.

If anything Buff is right on target for leveling, if not a little under. Matching a build to your unique play strategy is really the key. I was playing the first quarter of the game at Level 12 before I realized that I was hilariously under-leveled.

[Buffalobiian]

I've found levelling to be a bit of an afterthought in this game (from a player priority perspective, not a game development perspective).

And what I mean by that is, if I'm going into a boss fight with Haze to spare I'll do this in order:

1) Unlock any new memories and blood codes.
2) Inherit/unlock any codes I'll find useful
3) Upgrade any equipment I have materials for.
4) Throw the rest into increasing player level.
5) attack boss.

It's quite a different way compared to Dark Souls, where your stats were tied to points available upon levelling.
Here's it's more about your Blood Code and passives. Levelling up is just a "good to have" for a bit more health and stamina.

[Ryllharu]

I don't agree entirely. I was aggressively unlocking gifts basically whenever I had the haze to do so. The early ones mastered fast as hell because I was under leveled. Customizing the set of gifts for an area or boss became routine, and you can do it on the fly, which is huge. If you've mastered them, you don't need to shift blood codes so long as you have the stats for it, and the late game codes give you access to the majority of them. It still breaks down to Fighter/Caster/Scout for the ones that you can't, but those high-stat requirement gifts are highly specialized, or the right Passive gets you there (Mind Up -> Bridge to Glory, looking at you).

By the time I'm getting to a boss, there's nothing to unlock.

Upgrades I was also doing throughout, but they're not that big of a deal because you'll either get all the materials you need late game when you're swimming in haze and you can buy them in unlimited quantities, or you're really only focusing on a favored weapon or two. Blood Veils you just move up to the next one you found until NG+.

If you're after mastery, you want to be under leveled at all times. Leveling is really reserved to "Am I getting hit too hard by mobs?"

People can and do beat the bosses with pipe at level 1.

[Buffalobiian]

The reason I didn't aggressively unlock gifts while navigating a map was mainly because I avoided resting at Mistles, which in turn was due to my using low ichor blood codes and can't being fucked to farm mobs to raise my ichor soft-cap again after resting.

Having dead mobs stay dead also made my life easier for the sake of exploration and re-exploration to collect any missing items.

As for mastery, yeah I'm feeling the pain now. I wish I didn't add any leftover haze into leveling. I should have just let it go to waste since it'd hurt me less in the long run.

[shinta|hikari]

I didn't spend any time customizing like you guys did. I just leveled up, got some random gifts or whatever, leveled the weapon I fancied at the moment (which changed every area of the game), and dodged the shit out of everything.

The only boss that gave me trouble was this 2vs1 fight because my CPU ally kept dying and I just quit when that happened. My problem was, due to lack of any sort of preparation and being extremely underleveled (like I always am in any game since I just rush through everything), I did shit damage. So I can't tank or rush the bosses to death. In the end, I had to learn to dodge all their attacks while my ally did the damage, not because I can't strike the bosses, but because even as I repeatedly did so, I did almost no damage. I also killed the big red guy first because he dodged less.

My spec probably made no sense, and my weapon wasn't even upgraded completely, but that's how I roll.

[Buffalobiian]

So.
There's this game called Ghost of Tsushima.
I'm playing it.
And so should you.

Think earlier types of Assassin's Creed but Japan, and being somewhat closer to Sekiro in combat.

[shinta|hikari]

Finished it and all relevant sidequests with max upgrades. One of the best games I've played. Do yourself a favor and play with English subtitles and Japanese VA. The English VA does not do Jin justice.

I tried 3 different play styles:
1. Stagger style - Easy as fuck. You just stagger and slash everything to death by changing stances to match targeted enemy.
2. Counter style - The most fun style. You wait for enemies to attack you and counter. Stances mean nothing if you focus on this.
3. Ghost style - The most OP style. One fire bomb will kill an entire mob if specced right. Boring but hilarious.

"Stealth" in this game doesn't really exist (and I love it for that since I hate forced stealth). The detection rate and range are very low, and enemy areas and groups are sectioned off, so you don't have to be careful at all. Just don't openly attack enemies and you're good.

Visually one of the best things you will ever play on the PS4.

I thoroughly enjoyed just riding around Tsushima and killing mongols for no reason.

Best part is quality of life. It is basically RDR2 without all the annoying aspects. Loot can be picked up with no animation and huge range. Quick travel is unlocked from the get go. Mission rewards are transparent so you can choose what side quests to take. Best of all, the horse teleports to your location when called, so you can jump down a cliff and then call it, and ride off into the sunset. And you can't kill yourself by riding into a tree.

The only thing I could ask for is that the way you play should affect the story and ending. Being an honor-less ghost should result in a different ending than if you played as a (mostly) honor-bound samurai. That would've made this game legendary.

[Buffalobiian]

The only thing I could ask for is that the way you play should affect the story and ending. Being an honor-less ghost should result in a different ending than if you played as a (mostly) honor-bound samurai. That would've made this game legendary.

I agree with this. For the early part of the game I played with zero stealth and challenged everyone to a duel. Turns out the game pretty much forces you to at least compromise your morals once, and some characters reprimand you for your actions regardless.. so now I just do whatever seems fun and applicable at the time. All your actions do is trigger cutscenes reminding you of your past lessons in morality.

I'm still in Act 2 so I have a fair way to go.

Style-wise, I'm essentially avoiding Ghost style for now since I enjoy straight up fights. The new Lethal mode is interesting. It's essentially "hardcore" mode where everyone has increased damage. Depending on what you're fighting, it could make life easier or harder. Also since the damage is increased, running strike is now a 1 hit kill like it should be. Arrow damage is much higher but that's okay.

Mob fights are easier. After you parry an enemy, slash them twice and they're dead. That turns group fights into a series of 1v1v1v1v1. That's much easier than doing chip damage against 5 guys and parrying them all for 2 minutes.

I actually rarely fight mobs now anyway, because after I perform a stand-off against them, they're either dead or running away in fear.

I found some duels easier if they're essentially normal mobs with higher health bars, but some duels (Kojiro I'm looking at you) harder if they're tough. Mistakes are punished much more severely. With that guy, I ended up just spamming Heavenly Strike and Dance of Wrath against him until his head was much lower, then tried to go the rest of the way without stuffing up.

Overall I like Lethal Mode, it changes the game. It's supposed to improve enemy detection to make stealth harder, but since I rarely use stealth it doesn't matter.

[shinta|hikari]

Did you already get the Charm that makes parry, perfect parry, and perfect dodge easier? That makes the counter build viable and extremely fun.

I murdered Kojiro with ease because of that charm. That and my ridiculously high damage when we fought.

[KrayZ33]

Currently playing Genshin Impact.

Pretty cool anime game.
Even though it is a gacha-game, it's fun.

The exploration was a lot of fun and so was the story. The characters are really lovable.

[shinta|hikari]

Playing it too. I love Xiang Ling. Goba! Ike!

The dialog choices are surprisingly funny. Mihoyo always had good mobages, but this one is a cut above the others.

Who is in your main team? Do you play in Americas? What is your AR? I'm at 34 with Fischl, Keqing, Mona, and Xiang Ling. I swap in Barbara for one of them when healing is required. I am very happy to be lucky enough to get two 5 stars that are female. I wouldn't use them if they were male.

Apparently there is an official manga.

[Ryllharu]

Exploration is where it's at. The game is phenomenally beautiful in a lot of places. Paimon is by far the best small floating mascot/partner character in an action adventure game. Her lines are almost always funny.

I rotate through all the characters I have in my exploring parties, except for Razor (perpetual expeditions). Usually rolling with Traveler, Barbara, and whoever fits the situation. I don't really like Kaeya as a character, but he can legitimately walk on water, so there's that.

But for elite battles? Immortal God Battle Tank Noelle, Fischl, Xiangling, and Immortal Goddess Barbara.

[shinta|hikari]

Why do you have 2 healers? Isn't that gonna hurt your DPS and prevent clearing some battle conditions?

[Ryllharu]

Because Noelle is an immortal god battle tank. Her Geo beam sword attack stacks with DEF...she does absurd damage. Fishcl and Xiangling element combos more than make up for any difference. Barbara is an incomparable healer, and combos with both.

[KrayZ33]

My team so far is, Ice-Claymore-dude, Fischl C5 (will get C6 with the event when 1.1 hits), Xiangling and Barbara.
I will get a 5* character today due to pity rolls, maybe Klee - I so fucking hope it's gonna be Klee, there isn't a single character in any game whatsoever that is as cute as her.

Honestly, I want her to be my child.

Have you guys seen the trailers and previews about her? Some good quality shit.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvlh5qtBKjU&feature=emb_logo

"You are here for playtime with Klee? Yay! Okay, you will be in charge of the stormwatch - which means you will warn Klee as soon as you see Jean comming!" - adorable.

I play on EU, AR39

[shinta|hikari]

Let us all agree that Xiang Ling is FIRE.

That said, Keqing is ridic on damage. Broke the game for me.

[Buffalobiian]

My team so far is, Ice-Claymore-dude, Fischl C5 (will get C6 with the event when 1.1 hits), Xiangling and Barbara.
I will get a 5* character today due to pity rolls, maybe Klee - I so fucking hope it's gonna be Klee, there isn't a single character in any game whatsoever that is as cute as her.

Honestly, I want her to be my child.

Have you guys seen the trailers and previews about her? Some good quality shit.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvlh5qtBKjU&feature=emb_logo

"You are here for playtime with Klee? Yay! Okay, you will be in charge of the stormwatch - which means you will warn Klee as soon as you see Jean comming!" - adorable.

I play on EU, AR39

Okay, post trailer I might play this game now.

[shinta|hikari]

Hello.

1881

[Ryllharu]

My pulls are consistently garbage. I'm pretty sure the only 5*'s I've ever gotten were both pity pulls...and one was a weapon. T_T

I have a lot of 4* weapons...

[shinta|hikari]

In contrast, I don't have a gold weapon. Most of my weapons are crafted.

A friend of mine just got Klee and then Qiqi using single draws just yesterday too, but those were his first 2 5 stars.

[Ryllharu]

I think I might be okay not getting Klee this time around. I didn't really like her that much in the trial. Sucrose on the other hand...would prefer a few duplicates of her because she's like the bargain version of Jean's damage and crowd control sides.

You can do absurd amounts of swirl damage with her, mostly because her frequency is drastically higher than Venti's or the Anemo Traveler.

[shinta|hikari]

I have 3 dupes of Sucrose and 2 of Noelle too.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah, well, was trying to get more Sucrose dupes and got Klee on a single pull (that I shouldn't be doing anyway, always save for x10).

Klee is really disadvantaged on steep uphill terrain, like...all over Liyue. But I did give her a fully-refined Otherworldly Story, which is a weaker catalyst than what I have on Sucrose, but at least Klee heals herself pretty much constantly while generating tons of energy orbs.

[shinta|hikari]

Congrats!!!!

She is difficult as fuck to use, but very strong when used well. Also, her design and animation alone make her worth using as your main character during exploration, not to mention she can see specialties. She can also break rocks despite being a mage, negating the need for a claymore user.

In battle, Klee is exclusively for breaking shields and barriers and killing ice shit. I have her at level 60 and she meshes very well with Keqing, who is shit at breaking shields. Overloaded is also easy to pull off when you fill the area with flames.

You can draw singles. It will still give you a guaranteed 4 star when you total 10 single draws.

[Ryllharu]

Let us all agree that Xiang Ling is FIRE.

Yes. Yes we can.


https://youtu.be/0Y4NRRpqWUE

[Death BOO Z]

finally beat Hades. 1st time, i think 68th run? turns out the average might be half that.
It's a really great game, and the plot is still unfolding.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm playing Horizon Zero Dawn right now on PC.

This game would be quite difficult with a controller IMO. Critically hitting stuff while moving would be impossible. I get why people used to freeze robots then unload triple-shots into the weak points.

On PC though it becomes more managable. I'm playing on the Very Hard setting.

Robots by themselves are okay, but the hardest part is that even most upper tier monsters still come in groups of 2 or 3. I dislike "group boss fights" in general because I can't keep evade damage in these scenarios.

So I went ahead and learned to corrupt/override machines. Now at least one machine fights for me and I just watch it unfold.

[shinta|hikari]

So late into the game with Horizon, but I'm glad you get to experience it now. Do you have a PS4/5?

[Buffalobiian]

So late into the game with Horizon, but I'm glad you get to experience it now. Do you have a PS4/5?

I have a PS4. I don't think I'll get a PS5 for another year or so. I initially regretted not preordering a PS5 after cyberpunk got delayed and ruining my holiday plans, but remembered that I still have games to play (Like Horizon, Witcher 3, Nier Automata, Jedi Knight Fallen Order, Darksouls 2-3, Bloodbourne....) so I guess I'll wait for a sale.

I think I actually have a console version of HZD as well, but once I learned that it was getting a PC version I put it off so I could aim with a mouse.

So it turns out that I am not using Corruption nearly as much as I thought I would. It doesn't last very long so I just override them. It's easy enough because rolling is silent, so rolling up to someone without cover is fine as long as you're out of line of sight.

Besides tear arrows for dislodging critical parts (mainly enemy weapons) and Hardpoint arrows for smaller/faster dudes, my go-to for big boy slaying is ropecaster (modded for maximum handling) and blast sling (modded for damage).

Using harvester arrows against corpses is slightly buggy at times but works for the most part.

[Buffalobiian]

Alright, finished Horizon Zero Dawn.

Very good game overall. Not as good as Ghost of Tsushima I'd say.

The mid game was stronger than the end game. Maybe it was the lack of challenges/discoveries or the lack of new units in the end phase.

edit: maybe I should revise this. Combat flattenned out for sure, but that might just be combat familiarity. Story-wise, both midgame reveals and the final pre-credits scene were quite powerful. My slightly dissatisfied feeling initially probably came from immediately finishing the DLC just prior to the final mission.

The Frozen Wild was an amazing DLC.

I had a look around online for any figurines of any machines from this game. The only high quality, prepainted ones I found were of this Stalker (https://www.prime1studio.com/hzd-stalker-upmhzd-02.html)and Aloy (https://www.prime1studio.com/hzd-aloy-shield-weaver-armor-set-upmhzd-01ex.html)by Prime 1 Studio.

Now if you guys don't know P1S, they make large polystone figures. As in 1/4 to 1/2 scale figures. They sell for north of 1K USD.

I'll sit on those for a bit.. see if I want them later.

[KrayZ33]

Still playing Genshin, the new region was pretty fun to explore.
It really feels like a "rush" when you can explore new stuff.

So much loot, so many chests, so many secrets.

Actually a pretty solid 6 hours or so I got from it.

Can't wait for the new region and the new element for the traveler.

[Ryllharu]

The sword they're giving out for free as part of the event (Festering Desire), including several refinements, is possibly the best f2p sword you can get. It compares to the Skyward Blade fairly closely, even though it is a 4-star.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm not drawing for this banner. I'm saving everything for the Ganyu one next year. I need that cowaki.

I got qiqi and SRgeodude in a ten-draw last time I tried, so my pity is reset to 0. Qiqi is amazing, but geodude is a dude, so went to the trash heap.

[Ryllharu]

Same. I'd love to get a few more constellations of Sucrose. I'm at C2, but she's starts to get really good at C4. Ganyu's the next banner and I think I'm at 60 wishes.

I mostly want Qiqi for her passive. Klee's and her local specialty radar are the most overpowered passive perks.

You're kinda foolishly not using the male characters. They're monsters at support. Xingqui's Burst does so much damage with a fast attacker like Xiangling (who can get a very high elemental mastery). Bennet is supposedly very good for end game content, Chongyun has the best crowd control paired with Barbara), etc.

And Tartaglia is just so damn cool.
(I obviously support the Lumine x Tartaglia ship)

edit:
I mostly main these two teams:
Ningguang, Fishcl, Klee, Barbara
Beidou, Xiangling, Xingqui, Diona (my personal favorite four)

[shinta|hikari]

You're kinda foolishly not using the male characters. They're monsters at support. Xingqui's Burst does so much damage with a fast attacker like Xiangling (who can get a very high elemental mastery). Bennet is supposedly very good for end game content, Chongyun has the best crowd control paired with Barbara), etc.

edit:
I mostly main these two teams:
Ningguang, Fishcl, Klee, Barbara
Beidou, Xiangling, Xingqui, Diona (my personal favorite four)

If I intended to minmax, I wouldn't be playing Genshin. 99% of the reason I play gatcha games are the waifus. No doods, even if I do have several constellations for the 4 star ones you mentioned.

My current characters, which I mix around into 2 teams depending on the content (mostly Spire):
Keqing, Klee, Qiqi, Mona, Fischl, Xiang Ling, Diona, Barbara (just for her ult)

[Ryllharu]

Do it for the trap.

Xingqiu is voiced by Minagawa Junko, and the overall design is extremely girly anyway.

[shinta|hikari]

I hate traps, even if I like futa. Astolfo ruined Fate for me.

[KrayZ33]

Still playing it - anyone else enjoying it. Won't deny that the game is in "maintenance" mode for me until big patches and new characters hit (new area like Dragonspine for example), but I'm still enjoying it.
Can't wait for the next story quest cinematic.

I'm *so* waiting for "Eula" to release. Knightly woman, swift, 2h sword, amazing animations, a captain of the Mondstadt knights. Totally my type of character.

And... this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rDz16QBrMQ

at some point, they really have to re-add all the videos into the archive or something.

[Buffalobiian]

I've been playing Nioh 2 again on PC.

I played Nioh 2 using Tonfas when it first came out on PS4, and I played Nioh 1 on PC a few years ago. Nioh 2 is really a more polished version of Nioh 1. Overall easier as well, because Ki damage actually means something, and the burst counter + Yokai abilities just gives the player another option. It doesn't make the attacks any deadlier, so the game isn't any harder there.

Tonfas were fine.

PC has a few issues in that 120fps makes the AI on certain bosses do things faster (like spam faster), the game also goes into slow-motion at times, and you can't share character creation codes between PS4 and PC. Other than that, the DLCs have been fun to date (I've just started DLC3) and I'm playing with Fists - It's so damn fun to delete people with Beyond Infinite.

[Ryllharu]

Still playing it - anyone else enjoying it. Won't deny that the game is in "maintenance" mode for me until big patches and new characters hit (new area like Dragonspine for example), but I'm still enjoying it.


I'm happily at the point where I can now do the Level 90 domains solo and don't need to rely on toxic co-op players (who are typlically horrible Keqing/Diluc mains) who complain about you doing 2000-4000 damage while they're usually dead in 2 minutes.

Mostly maining C6 Ning and C4 Beidou. I have Klee, but she's at Friendship 10 so I use her less now to rotate through the others.

Currently working on building up the severely underrated Xinyan while waiting for Rosaria (hoping for C2 there).

[shinta|hikari]

I'm at a point where I feel I am done with Genshin Impact.

I got Ganyu and Amos Bow, and then I got Hu Tao and Staff of Homa, and the other characters just feel boring to use due to how OP these two are. Even Hu Tao is annoying to use compared to Ganyu, who just charge attacks everything.

The moment I finished 12-3 at Spire, I knew I was going to get bored of the game, and that was before I drew Hu Tao and Homa.

[Ryllharu]

You don't have to use Ganyu. Especially since you have Amos' bow. She's going to be OP, we all know she's OP with it. That's the whale's curse. Not saying you're a whale...but you have the same problem the whales do right now.

Genshin Impact rewards technical play, unlike the overwhelming majority of gacha games. Nearly every character has some degree of optimization. A lot of the whales never learn to actually play. A lot of the youtube guides from the showcase whales are shit. They use food and the same team comp (Sucrose with a VV set, Bennett, corresponding reaction/debuff character) to post the "insane" numbers on every character. They pass around the level 20 5* Noblesse/Bolide/Gladiator sets they have with 50/200 Crit ratios. That's because the game actually has no bad characters.

There's many 4* characters that can completely out damage a whale's C6 5*. There's a whole lot of tricks now to really excelling at play on PC. Jump canceling, dash canceling, machine-gun, Razor/Noelle dragon strike if you've got the ping for it, etc.

I had a badly spec'd Klee at C1 when Dragonspine came out. Yet I routinely out-damaged Diluc whales on the Dragonspine co-op battles by using machine-gun Klee. I've done plenty of co-op artifact domains where I somehow carry with a Beidou or a Ning/Noelle (to be fair I do have them both at C6) after the morons die off with their 5* units.

Sure, a 5* is drastically more powerful. Especially with a 5* weapon. And they can get a lot of people far through the content. But Genshin Impact has no bad characters. Not even Amber.

They all play different. Quite a few of them play completely uniquely. Experimenting with team comps for fun is really enjoyable. Some of them work really nicely. A few of them don't. Some of them are god-tier and can plow through all the content. Some excel at the weekly bosses, some better on the overworld, some for Abyss, some specialize in harvesting enemy resources. Geo Supremacy is real (and I don't even have C1 Zhongli or any copy of Albedo!) and plays differently from the normal reaction-focused play. Physical builds work in varying degrees due to enemy resistances. A few even blast through anyway.

If you're just breezing through the content with a whale-spec Ganyu, you only have yourself to blame.

edit: My strongest team is all 4* characters. Not all of them are level 80 on WL6. They're my go-to boss slayers. One of them is a gimme, and no, she doesn't have Crescent Pike.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't really like crippling myself when I have better options available in any game. I have played with many other characters and combinations (excluding any and all male characters), but I've gotten tired of those too, especially since I have much better tools in my arsenal.

I don't think Genshin Impact is bad or boring by any stretch of the imagination. I just usually reach a point in any game I play where I instantly lose all interest and just move on. It feels a little sad this happened to Genshin Impact, but it's a cycle I live with, and all in all it lasted longer than most games. The same happened with FGO, Azur Lane, Danmachi, Konosuba, etc. All my SSR characters and extra currencies seem wasted, but I simply couldn't get back into them once I've reached this point.

My only complaint is that I wish there was actual difficult coop content with meaningful and renewable rewards, something similar to the 11 and 12 Spire but designed for coop. I have 2 other friends who still actively play, but coop with them is more of a handicap since Ganyu and Hu Tao will easily clean off all enemies faster solo.

I never really needed to coop any content in the game, excluding coop designed events where you need more bodies to collect stuff during a time limit. The vast majority of content was just much faster to do solo.

I might come back when there are new areas to explore or new 5 star waifus to draw, but I'm taking time off until then.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't really like crippling myself when I have better options available in any game.

Doesn't that like... completely contradicts how you played Code;Vein?

[shinta|hikari]

Can you remind me what I did? I don't even remember.

Sometimes I play the game without thinking too much about min-maxxing or even using certain upgrades, and that sometimes leads to a more difficult playthrough, but I don't choose to do that. It just meant I played with the best cards I thought I had.

Except for using male characters. I just don't if I have a choice to not use them.

I actually have 5 star male characters in Genshin Impact, but they are all untouched or even tested.

EDIT:
I just went back to my old Code Vein post, and it is consistent with what I said above. I simply didn't put the effort and time into leveling and customizing my characters, but I still used the best that I had at the time.

That's different from saying I already had a much better weapon but intentionally used a weaker one.

[KrayZ33]

Genshin really needs some kind of endgame. That is true. Abyss isn't "hard" enough, the time limit is artificial but still super easy to beat as long as you farm artifacts for a while.

as For Ganyu/Hu Tao etc:

Ganyu certainly deals less damage than a Hu Tao setup due to Ganyu not scaling with most support characters due to how charged attacks work.

Xinqiu C6 and Fischl C6 are absurd support characters, they are so strong, that basically any comp that can't at least use one of them is strictly worse.
My Xinqiu basically adds ~10-20k dmg on every autoattack, my fischl adds 10k from Oz and then another 2k on every auto attack alongside the A4 passive which also deals 10k.
That happens on basically every attack in the attack-chain due to how persistent the electro debuff remains on the target and due to how fast C6 fischl applies it. So she is basically never the character tirggering reactions.

Ganyu, while still dealing ~20+40k (without melt) with my gear for her and the Amos Bow, can't reach that because neither Fischl nor Xinqiu's passives Proc with her.

But 1.5 seems to add a big boss which has 5x the HP of a generic Cube-Worldboss and supposedly, it's a 3-phase fight. Maybe that's something people will co-op.
I have to say though, I doubt anything will be challenging considering how powerful defensive characters are.
Zhongli makes everyone invulnerable, and any healer will heal up whatever goes through his shield.
You can basically face tank absolutely everything in this game.

They need to add monsters with mechanics, devastating mechanics even, the new mini-boss is certainly not enough. I don't have to use a shield character at all. It doesn't even remove 50% of my health, and one healing tick will bring me back to 100%.

[Ryllharu]

How is your Xingqiu built? What weapon?

I'm assuming level 20 5* Noblesse and a Hydro goblet?

[KrayZ33]

How is your Xingqiu built? What weapon?

I'm assuming level 20 5* Noblesse and a Hydro goblet?

He's at C6 with:
2p Noblesse + 2p Water set and a random hydro goblet.
Sacrificial Sword as a weapon (R5) so I can press his Burst ability and 2 elemental skills back to back and he has enough Energy Recharge that this is basically bringing him back to 100% energy pretty much.

Using his Burst before using his E is important due to the 50% damage bonus from one of his constellations.

His swords add ~45% dmg reduction too, alongside interrupt resistance.
If you are looking for DPS in a group setup, I can only tell you guys to level him up to 80/90. He is *that* good.
Since he is hydro, he is excellent for Diluc or Hu Tao or even Klee as off-field support that you switch in for pressing Q and E-2x.
https://i.imgur.com/rKU1thd.png

[Ryllharu]

Okay, so my artifacts and their substats are just shit then, because I don't even have half as much attack.

Back to the grind for better ones!

Nothing like getting all DEF% on leveling up the artifact when you also had Energy Recharge and ATK% as substats.

[KrayZ33]

I made a video of my DPS team.
This is probably one of the cheapest teams you can build right now with extremely high amounts of Burst and DPS.

Hu Tao is using a 3* weapon and the Fatui Agents have 50(?)% Pyro RES.

It showcases the power of C6 Fischl and C6 Xinqiu pretty well imho.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9WNWgpkst4

[Ryllharu]

But I like torture-juggling enemies with Ningguang...

Not mine, but you get the idea. Except with c6, they all die on that post-burst 7-shot barrage. You have to pause a single beat for it to work really, really effectively. Or they die from the fall damage because they're about 3-4x her height in the air.

https://youtu.be/Gh5T5ntSgQ8

[KrayZ33]

Well, it works with Ninguang too, as long as you hit the left mouse button between charged attacks.
You'll even trigger Fischl's ascension passive from time to time, because electro+geo = crystalize.

You can even see one agent being juggled by Fischl+Xinqiu in my video where I'm just autoattacking and not hitting anything because all the passives keep the enemy mid-air - out of range.

Since Ninguang has homing missles, you'll actually hit something.
You'll get lots of shields along the way while still doing electro-charged on the enemy.

[Buffalobiian]

My team so far is, Ice-Claymore-dude, Fischl C5 (will get C6 with the event when 1.1 hits), Xiangling and Barbara.
I will get a 5* character today due to pity rolls, maybe Klee - I so fucking hope it's gonna be Klee, there isn't a single character in any game whatsoever that is as cute as her.

Honestly, I want her to be my child.

Have you guys seen the trailers and previews about her? Some good quality shit.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvlh5qtBKjU&feature=emb_logo

"You are here for playtime with Klee? Yay! Okay, you will be in charge of the stormwatch - which means you will warn Klee as soon as you see Jean comming!" - adorable.

I play on EU, AR39

https://i.imgur.com/ixj5oOi.jpg

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/fr/import-japon-figurines-jouets-de-personnages-de-jeux/47501-genshin-impact-klee-hibana-knight-ver-17-mihoyo-.html?fbclid=IwAR3_PhFI8nt1TQjzlxrDa7CYDGVmfM5AmZQ vwe6Ij3-E-hifEtvlB8IVFY4


Side note, still playing Overwatch.
I've heard about Overwatch 2 having 1 less tank etc and overall changes making it more about being closer to FPS than heroes/abilities.

Without having played it, my first impressions are that this feels like a step backwards into making Overwatch "another shooter with class perks" instead of having it revolve heavily around healing/tanking/DPS synergy.

[Shadow Skill]

I am playing Modern Warfare Warzone and have been for 19 months lol. I completely lost track of time and even forgot about Gotwoot for awhile lol.

[Buffalobiian]

Got partway through Elden Ring last year then stopped to study for exams. Didn't get back into it again but I'll try to do it this year. I stopped at Melania and also haven't yet beaten the doggo with the black sword.

Bought Hogwarts but instead of starting that, I started playing Wo Long instead. I'm enjoying it more than I expected. I'm pretty much playing it like Sekiro. I've heard of some poison/lightning builds out there that work well, but I've always hated grinding for gear and building sets so I might skip all.

[Ryllharu]

It's why I have no interest in Baldur's Gate 3 right now, so much choice the game promises, but I'm sure I cannot be a transphobic, racist asshole that has 3 wives who don't know about each other (to use an extreme example of what I'd like to see in games).
So...you're wrong. Not sure what 'anti-woke' trash youtuber (they whip themselves on the same purity tests the woke crowd does, just reverse) you're watching to pick up that impression from.

BG3 lets you be racist, should you choose to be. It's Forgotten Realms after all, race is a huge deal in that D&D setting. Gith and Lolth-Sworn Drow are inherently racists and have plenty of dialogue options to enable it. Several NPCs and even certain companions start out as racists.

BG3 lets you attempt to have multiple lovers within your party...see if it works out for you because they all have their own personalities and operate like dynamic characters instead of "Press X for Romance" like many, many other RPGs do. But yes, you can romance anyone. If you can figure them out enough for them to like you back. There's plenty of NPCs in implied (not in your face) same-sex relationships. The character creation pronouns, genitals, and body type really play no part in the game except what you see and hear on screen. Nobody really cares about it. The twitter woke crowd hates it anyway because genitals have a "Default" but none of them are playing the game because otherwise, they'd be saying how good it is.

BG3 lets you be a shining superhero doing good everywhere. BG3 lets you be someone who intends to do good, but backfires and forces you to live with the consequences of your choices. BG3 lets you be a complete asshole. BG3 lets you be a tormented/willing monster with The Dark Urge and its unique dialogues and cinematics.

BG3 is easy Game of the Year in a year that is flush with some truly amazing games. Easily best cRPG of the last 10 years, and arguably the best RPG in the last 20 years. It is the purest representation of what it feels like to play D&D tabletop with a DM that is willing to let you push the boundaries of their setting.

It's a really fucking good game. You're doing yourself a disservice to dismiss it for something so stupid.

[MFauli]

So...you're wrong. Not sure what 'anti-woke' trash youtuber (they whip themselves on the same purity tests the woke crowd does, just reverse) you're watching to pick up that impression from.

BG3 lets you be racist, should you choose to be. It's Forgotten Realms after all, race is a huge deal in that D&D setting. Gith and Lolth-Sworn Drow are inherently racists and have plenty of dialogue options to enable it. Several NPCs and even certain companions start out as racists.

BG3 lets you attempt to have multiple lovers within your party...see if it works out for you because they all have their own personalities and operate like dynamic characters instead of "Press X for Romance" like many, many other RPGs do. But yes, you can romance anyone. If you can figure them out enough for them to like you back. There's plenty of NPCs in implied (not in your face) same-sex relationships. The character creation pronouns, genitals, and body type really play no part in the game except what you see and hear on screen. Nobody really cares about it. The twitter woke crowd hates it anyway because genitals have a "Default" but none of them are playing the game because otherwise, they'd be saying how good it is.

BG3 lets you be a shining superhero doing good everywhere. BG3 lets you be someone who intends to do good, but backfires and forces you to live with the consequences of your choices. BG3 lets you be a complete asshole. BG3 lets you be a tormented/willing monster with The Dark Urge and its unique dialogues and cinematics.

BG3 is easy Game of the Year in a year that is flush with some truly amazing games. Easily best cRPG of the last 10 years, and arguably the best RPG in the last 20 years. It is the purest representation of what it feels like to play D&D tabletop with a DM that is willing to let you push the boundaries of their setting.

It's a really fucking good game. You're doing yourself a disservice to dismiss it for something so stupid.

But here's the important question: Does the game punish me, if I'm being racist and/or evil. That's usually the issue with morality systems, that the developers set what is good and what is evil and usually the consequences are that being evil means getting punished in some way. See Mass Effect where being evil most of the time means a quest ends way early and you miss out on a ton story. What's it like in BG3.

Anyway, since you seem to be playing the game: Can you tell me what makes this game so special that EVERYONE is hyping it right now. I watched some review videos and yes, it looks good. like a good crpg. But nothing outstandingly new, like, if you like crpgs, this will be an awesome game, but if one doesn't like crpgs, this doesnt look like a game-changer. What makes it standout. Is the story THAT good or what.

Your posting has me on the cusp of buying it, even though I really didn't plan to. I played some crpgs in the past, I always loved the atmosphere, but the gameplay gets so frustrating at some point (healing is always cumbersome, with all my party having some sort of "wounded" status for hours, lol) that I quit. Crpgs I played: Icewind Dale, Drakensang, Pillars of Eternity (very little of it, like, beginning hours), and then, if it even counts, Dragon Age Origins.

Thanks for your input.

[DarthEnderX]

But here's the important question: Does the game punish me, if I'm being racist and/or evil. That's usually the issue with morality systems, that the developers set what is good and what is evil and usually the consequences are that being evil means getting punished in some way. You mean like...the logical consequences your character WOULD face if you acted that way?

Would be a pretty piss-poor game if it didn't.

[Ryllharu]

But here's the important question: Does the game punish me, if I'm being racist and/or evil. That's usually the issue with morality systems, that the developers set what is good and what is evil and usually the consequences are that being evil means getting punished in some way. See Mass Effect where being evil most of the time means a quest ends way early and you miss out on a ton story. What's it like in BG3.
The super evil path (indulging The Dark Urge)? I think it does, because killing certain NPCs may be out of your control, but also gives you unique questlines as well. That's kind of the whole point of that Origin storyline, and not really recommended for first playthrough.

Normal evil with a custom character or the other Origin ones? No. You get different rewards. Easier fights, different fights, more difficult fights, different loot you wouldn't get otherwise, etc. D&D doesn't do morality scales the way other games do, and BG3 especially doesn't. From the start of Early Access, being evil was very much a viable path. They still know that most people won't play evil (it's about 34% of players), but Larian fully kitted-out experiences for those who do or will on a replay.


Anyway, since you seem to be playing the game: Can you tell me what makes this game so special that EVERYONE is hyping it right now. I watched some review videos and yes, it looks good. like a good crpg. But nothing outstandingly new, like, if you like crpgs, this will be an awesome game, but if one doesn't like crpgs, this doesnt look like a game-changer. What makes it standout. Is the story THAT good or what.

Everyone is hyping it because it really is that good. It is a complete experience. "A single player game that doesn't have microtransactions, DLC, or Season Passes," you might hear people gleefully state. I'm at 63 hours, and I'm maybe halfway through the game, doing absolutely everything I can. And it is a lot. There's quite a few different ways to resolve any questline: Search for ways to 'break' the encounter, sneak around, do research (talk to people, find evidence elsewhere), snoop, steal items, assassinate people first, etc. There's puzzle bosses, there's many ways to completely avoid combat (and you still get EXP for it), there's entire environments that are hostile to you. It's consistently a challenge that will require you to think.
Companions feel like actual people. They'll disagree with you. You have to earn their trust, which you can also lose again. They have goals that don't automatically align with your own. They can leave. You can kill them (not recommended). They can be respec'd if you don't like their class or build. The story, the lore, they adventure, they're not just good, they're great.

Failing rolls and checks? Actually worth it. They'll give you something interesting behind that fail, rather than blocking you out of content most of the time. Failing certain combat situations will change the game on you.


Your posting has me on the cusp of buying it, even though I really didn't plan to. I played some crpgs in the past, I always loved the atmosphere, but the gameplay gets so frustrating at some point (healing is always cumbersome, with all my party having some sort of "wounded" status for hours, lol) that I quit. Crpgs I played: Icewind Dale, Drakensang, Pillars of Eternity (very little of it, like, beginning hours), and then, if it even counts, Dragon Age Origins.

Running around wounded is D&D to me though. I play it pushing the boundaries of how far I can go between Long Rests (full heals and restored spell slots). But you don't have to. You can long-rest after every other encounter if you want, the game is balanced toward it. There's a handful of quests that are time-sensitive, though, so keep that in mind, but they're not main quest ones. If you know D&D 5E as a system well, the balance on normal difficulty is perfect. You can play non-optimized characters extremely well. There's an easier mode if you just want to experience the story and find it too challenging. There's plenty of beginner guides on youtube to get you over the skill/system hurdles if you need them (fextralife/wolfheartfps both good choices for those).

You can quick save anywhere. In the middle of dialogue if you want.

And Pillars of Eternity was overhyped garbage. It got ruined by min-maxer players in Early Access that Obsidian listened to too closely. Their system that's not D&D expects you to play a very particular way. I regret backing its kickstarter given the way it turned out.

[MFauli]

The super evil path (indulging The Dark Urge)? I think it does, because killing certain NPCs may be out of your control, but also gives you unique questlines as well. That's kind of the whole point of that Origin storyline, and not really recommended for first playthrough.

Normal evil with a custom character or the other Origin ones? No. You get different rewards. Easier fights, different fights, more difficult fights, different loot you wouldn't get otherwise, etc. D&D doesn't do morality scales the way other games do, and BG3 especially doesn't. From the start of Early Access, being evil was very much a viable path. They still know that most people won't play evil (it's about 34% of players), but Larian fully kitted-out experiences for those who do or will on a replay.


So, could I play as a "hero" who's generally up to fighting the big bad guy (whoever that is), but be evil or "mean" in individual situations. Basically, let's the main quest says "go defeat that ogre that keeps eating people". So I kill the ogre because I'm the hero. BUT there's this one npc that's been getting on my nerves, so I send him into the woods where he gets eaten by wolves. Am I branded as evil now, despite doing good overall.

And then specifically on the topic of sexual stuff, because that's always lotta fun in games: You said you can romance anyone, but I've read there's only a handful of romances, for straight male players there's only 2 female options in the game. So what did you mean. And generally speaking, how sexually mischievous can I be in this game. Can I hit on two women at the same time and talk my way into a threesome. Stuff lik that.

If you can kill off party members, can you recruit new ones. Or is that basically turning the game into ultra hard-mode, lol.

Thanks for your answers. I'm about 10 hours from finishing AC Valhalla, then I'll probably get this game.


nderX;577985]You mean like...the logical consequences your character WOULD face if you acted that way?

Would be a pretty piss-poor game if it didn't.

Besides the general idiocy of your postng:

1.) It's a fantasy-video game. Not the real world. A medieval fantasy-world that punishes me for being transphobic would be utterly ridiculous, lol.[/B]

2.) What I meant was whether or not the game would be punishing for me beng evil OR whether it'd be punishment by individual npcs. Basically: If I'm being racist to one npc or kill one npc, will THE WHOlE WORlD now treat me as "evil" or can I be evil to one npc, but stll be perceived as good to other npcs. That's an important difference.

[Ryllharu]

So, could I play as a "hero" who's generally up to fighting the big bad guy (whoever that is), but be evil or "mean" in individual situations. Basically, let's the main quest says "go defeat that ogre that keeps eating people". So I kill the ogre because I'm the hero. BUT there's this one npc that's been getting on my nerves, so I send him into the woods where he gets eaten by wolves. Am I branded as evil now, despite doing good overall.

And then specifically on the topic of sexual stuff, because that's always lotta fun in games: You said you can romance anyone, but I've read there's only a handful of romances, for straight male players there's only 2 female options in the game. So what did you mean. And generally speaking, how sexually mischievous can I be in this game. Can I hit on two women at the same time and talk my way into a threesome. Stuff lik that.

If you can kill off party members, can you recruit new ones. Or is that basically turning the game into ultra hard-mode, lol.

Thanks for your answers. I'm about 10 hours from finishing AC Valhalla, then I'll probably get this game.

There's no morality scale. None. This is D&D 5E, alignments are gone. If you do one quest "good" and the next quest "evil," the whole world does not know. Someone might remember what you've done though, but that's because they were affected by it. The main plotlines, kinda, but it'll be pretty obvious why, what you did, and who you sided with; they are big main quests for a reason, but even then you are not locked in.

That said, if you play paladin, follow your oath. The oath doesn't care if you're evil or good. The companion who is a paladin by default is evil.

Everyone is available for romancing. There's three women and three men. There is an additional man and additional woman, but they cannot both join your party. Again, you'll figure out why. If you pick one of the Origin characters to play as, you obviously cannot romance yourself. One person is into polyamory, ain't gonna tell you who, spoil it for yourself if you want, but that's your loss. Otherwise, try it and find out.
Two additional companions on top of all those are not romanceable, and acquired much later.

There are customizable hirelings in case you need to replace party members. If you play The Dark Urge, you will likely need to use them.

[MFauli]

Are customizable hirelings temporary/die permanently or can they fully replace bonafide party members.

Regarding romancing, I see. It sounded like you could romance any random npc in the world if you chose to. So romancing is limited to party members.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah, not quite Fable.

But the ones you do have are very well-written, dynamic, and require figuring out how to get them to trust you...except best girl Bae'zel. She just wants to fuck you for the novelty. Lae'zel has the best line when you turn her down though.

It has also come to my attention that there is indeed a foursome possible with some NPCs and one of the companions. There's a ton of variations to a lot of the available romance scenes as the game progresses.

[Buffalobiian]

I've been playing Lies of P for the past week or two. It's a blast. Souls-like that feels like a modern DS done with Sekiro-levels of storytelling (so slightly cryptic, but the NPCs tell you what's happening eventually).

I've been playing with the Azure Dragon Glaive that pretty lets me play this like Sekiro. The parry windows are certainly more generous than DS.

[Buffalobiian]

Black Myth Wukong was pretty fun. I have to make it look like ass in order to run on my 8 year old graphics card, but the core gameplay remains unchanged. The Spellbinder ability you get midway through the game is really strong.

[MFauli]

Replaying "Mini Ninjas". Not as good as I remembered, but I have nothing that I really want to play currently and it's a nice little distraction.