Currently playing in 2019...

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **Jenuall** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:15 pm

Continuing with my quest to save the planet in FFVII - now onto disc 2 (or "Part 2" as it has been rebanded in this CD free world! :lol:

)

The combination of the 3x speed option which makes levelling far quicker and the fact that I have played the game so many times that I know most of the mechanics inside out has resulted in the whole thing being an absolute cakewalk so far - I've had zero "Game Over" screens and I think I have only had one character reach 0HP up to now! At the end of Disc 1 my team were all over level 60! :lol:

Enjoying the whole thing immensely still, although as this is my first play through for a number of years it has made me wonder more about how accessible the game will be to new players. For one thing it is clearer than ever that on a first play through there are so many sections that must surely make strawberry float all sense! A lot of that is down to the "bad" translation of the game which confuses the hell out of the plot at key points :lol:

One of the best things I think they do in FFVII which counteracts this problem is to keep things moving all of the time - there aren't too many opportunities to stop and think "hold on, what the hell was that about and why are we doing this next thing?"

Some of the design would probably be reworked significantly if this was a new game - there are sections which would have much more hand holding than you get here. There are a couple of points in the game where it becomes somewhat unclear as to where you are supposed to go next, they do a pretty good job of mechanically limiting your options so that you generally only have access to one new place at a time - the place you need to go next, but sometimes this is not the case and I suspect some people may get lost and give up at these points. Similarly there are some story beats that rely on you taking certain actions that are never really clear to you ("oh the story won't progress until I have a random nap - thanks for making that clear!") - although interestingly I can't actually remember having too many problems with this back in the day, possibly because I've forgotten but also there's a good chance that as everyone I knew was playing the game at the same time we were helping each other out with pointers!

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **FatDaz** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:44 pm

It’s great hearing about FF7 again, haven’t played it for years, overdue another run through.

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **Squinty** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:18 pm

The trip to the North Cave is probably the weakest thing about the game. But it gets back to awesomeness when you reach there.

Skyrim on the Switch is everything I hoped it'd be. It runs flawlessly and the graphical downgrade is barely noticeable.

Super happy with it.

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **Robbo-92** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 9:14 pm

Tafdolphin wrote:Skyrim on the Switch is everything I hoped it'd be. It runs flawlessly and the graphical downgrade is barely noticeable.

Super happy with it.

Yeah its a great port, great in handheld as well as docked. I put 70 hours into it very quickly (within the first month) and have only touched it every so often since (now upto about 85 hours), only issues I've had so far is a few sound glitches (where the menu sound played a few seconds after selecting it, weapon equip sound doing the same) and the same issue once your house starts to get full of items so the chests take a while to withdraw/deposit items. Other than that it really is a great port.

It's also just a much better game than anything Bethesda have done since.

There was a lovely little moment after I took a room at an inn. I made myself at home stealing all the valuables within when the door flew open and I saw the proprietor stood in the doorway just staring at me. I shut the door on her and went to go to sleep when it flew open again and she began inching into the room, still staring me down.

Eventually I realised that was her room, and mine was upstairs.

It was such a small thing, but it gave that otherwise generic NPC a place in my mind. I can't remember a single thing like that happening in my 50 hours in Fallout 4.

I beat the mission in Nioh that I was stuck on... well I say beat, I cheated a little. I saw a strategy for cheesing it online and it worked a treat.

Tafdolphin wrote:It's also just a much better game than anything Bethesda have done since.

m8 you haven't even played 76

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **Cal** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:47 am

Still enjoying the daftness that is Strange Brigade. Recently took delivery of a new Dell XPS 8930 (desktop - their top-of-the-range model) PC packing some serious heat, including an 8th Gen i7 8700k and GTX 1080 (8GB) GPU. The game looks marvelous and runs at a steady 60fps in DX12. Bought all the DLC and having a blast. Such an unusual and (dare I say it) unpolitically correct subject matter (British Empire, basically). You have to wonder what Rebellion were smoking, but just the fact this game was made at all (let alone made so well and with such arch humour) gives me real hope for the future. I really hope they do a sequel, but I doubt it.

OrangeRKN wrote:
Tafdolphin wrote:It's also just a much better game than anything Bethesda have done since.

m8 you haven't even played 76

#waitforFTPcrew

I tell you what hasn't aged well in Skyrim at all, and something that'll be super interesting to see if they address in Elder Scrolls VI; the portrayal of the Khajiit as a race of thieves/sneaky merchants who all speak with generic middle eastern accents and who literally come from 'Elsweyr'.

HUM.

Very true.

M'aiq the Liar is still the best character though

I haven't encountered him on this run yet, but I remember him being a good laugh.

I'm playing an arsehole High Elf who sided with the Stormcloaks purely to weaken the Imperium this time round, so I'm generally being a dick to everyone. It's not making much, if any, difference gameplay wise but Skyrim is perhaps the easiest RPG in which to actually role play so I'm having a grand old time.

Tafdolphin wrote:Skyrim is perhaps the easiest RPG in which to actually role play

Right up until you try to kill someone and they just drop to their knee because every other NPC in the game is marked essential.

My last run on the Switch was as an orc with two-handed weapons just murdering everyone. I cleared out everyone I could from Whiterun but it's frustrating how many people there can't be killed for no good reason.

Everyone who could though? Definite fun had

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **Trelliz** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:49 am

I'm starting to hit my skill/patience limits in Trials Rising, medals have gone from regular golds down to bronzes and i'm not even out of the medium tracks yet. I've heard that the grind gets real to unlock new tracks and events and i'm starting to get that feeling.

PostRe: Currently playing in 2019... by **Jenuall** » Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:29 pm

Squinty wrote:The trip to the North Cave is probably the weakest thing about the game. But it gets back to awesomeness when you reach there.

Yeah the first trip to the North Crater is a bit of a drag, but it does have a fair amount of heavy lifting to do story-wise so that's probably forgivable.

It does return to awesomeness though - the WEAPON raid on Junon is probably one of the best sequences in the game!

Just did the bitch-slap fight between Scarlet and Tifa last night. Everyone loves a bit of girl on girl action! :datass:

Had a 'free' day today. Should have been writing/thinking/studying.

I'm now lvl 35 at smithing and I received the blessing of the Greybeards.

I am lost. Plz send help.

Sounds like a good use of time to me. What's the point in a free day if you can't lose yourself in Skyrim?

You know what’s wrong with Skyrim?

It’s too addictive :lol:

I'd forgotten just how bad it is. 'Ok, I've got a mission to explore this barrow... But what's that symbol on my radar? Never seen that befo... Oh there's a dragon. Ok, kill that now where am I oh look, a dragon wall. There's a herd of deer over there too and I really do need some leather' ... And on and on and on.

Bad meaning good, there. Bethesda may have gooseberry fool the bed recently but by god they were on the ball with this game.

Tafdolphin wrote:'Ok, I've got a mission to explore this office block... But what's that symbol on my radar? Never seen that befo... Oh there's a scorchbeast. Ok, kill that now where am I oh look, a camp. There's a herd of radstag over there too and I really do need some leather' ... And on and on and on.

By which I mean, all of that appeal of exploration, emergent combat situations and personal-driven crafting goals, those are all present in Fallout 4 and 76 - and in fact more-so for me because I find the post-apocalyptic setting personally more fun to explore.

To compare Skyrim and Fallout 4, because they are much more similar, I can't think of anything Skyrim does significantly better, only being understandably different in setting (which obviously has a big effect on personal preference).

(Not wanting to bait you into an argument, but saying Bethesda have gooseberry fool the bed recently while also saying Skyrim was them on the ball makes little sense to me. I'd understand that perspective a lot more if you were playing, like, Morrowind!)

Currently playing in 2019...

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