What games are you currently playing?

[Ketaru]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

And don't forget about ME4, which is why I feel the "bad" (Destroy/Red) ending is the only real one as it's the only one where Shepard lives...

Word on the streets is Shepard may not even be in the next Mass Effect game. Personally, I've heard convincing arguments for why Refusal ought to be the "ideal" ending.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Okay so I got my refund from MS which was nice (I got overcharged for episodes 2 and 3) and I just finished episode 5.

Dick move Tell Tale, dick move. And yet I love it, because too many happy endings for the sake of having one. The game sadly suffers from my usual gripes (lack of branching paths, truly different endings/scenarios among other things) but overall a very solid and extremely compelling experience - downright disturbing.

I love it because it's so freaking horrible (not the game but everything that happens over the course of the game, dear God...) and my friend & I had a blast analyzing the rubes as they went along their journey, making notes to perfect our own zombie plan (Everyone needs one just in case. You laugh now but when (hopefully never) the time comes...)

And all for just $10. My pick for GotY.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

It falls apart towards the end.

Rental @ best.

You're full of shit.

I just finished the game and it was fucking brilliant. Loved every minute of that game.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Really? So you're honestly telling me you didn't see the whole mess after dealing with The Spymaster coming? Or how about how bland the last area is - ooooh it rains if you've been a psycho, or it's serene if you've spared people - otherwise pretty much the exact same layout and enemies. Ending's the same deal - Red/Gree/Blue explosion. Sick of games doing that.

And walking dead does it too sadly, but at least that game was enjoyable all the way through. I do love how none of the non-lethal options in Dishonored are good in any way - not even merciful honestly (except in the case of the assassin guy). At no point did I feel like I was doing them any favors lol.

But yeah like there's no real incentive for just slaughtering people other than less weepers, which never really struck me as much of a benefit anyway (they're easy enough to deal with) and I didn't care for the bulk of the powers being for lethal purposes nor the limitations on upgrades - please tell me why I was never allowed to upgrade my sleep bolt capacity for example since I wasn't going to be using any of the lethal stuff anyway lol ?

There weren't many choices to make, none of them being really impactful on the game or story... so yeah, Rental at best. I expected a lot more from those guys. A good game, but not GotY material by any stretch like at the VGAs lol (not that I ever take those seriously to begin with).

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I have to respectfully disagree, Mal. Dishonored may have a few rough edges (I sincerely don't like having Corvo be a silent protagonist, as it plays heavily at odds with his obviously warm relationship with Emily), but on the strength of its level design alone I think it merits a lot of respect. Whether you're going in with aggression or stealth, every mission throws new wrinkles at you and keeps you on your toes.

Sure, you run out of things to spend money on very quickly if you're going to go all-stealth, but if you think most of the power list is for aggression, then something is wrong with you. And if you need more than 10 sleep darts, there's also something wrong with you.

There are 10 powers. Blink, Possession, Bend Time, Agility, and Dark Vision are all solidly useful for stealth play. That looks very much like 5/10 = HALF. Sure, aggressive players can use quite a few of those as well, but so what? That's more than enough tools to work with.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Oh the level design was pretty good, I was getting more at the core mechanics & story - they fell horribly flat & I just found combat to be dull - especially with the right bone charms you can turn corvo into an absolute monster. This is sorta the problem with having super powers & going up against a bunch of retards (literally, AI was dumb as all hell) who are just normal shmucks with no real advantage barring the Tall Boys (even the guys with the music box thingy aren't a big threat). The enemy assassin guys are another story, but even they can be tackled easily enough if you're cautious.

I mostly enjoyed it right up to the end, and the the ending just killed the whole experience for me. It's never that I expect some kind of amazing, spectacular show or something it's just the tendency these days seems to be putting in as little effort as possible into wrapping things up. The ending is basically the same regardless of what you do, the only difference being Emily turns out to be a little saint or a tyrant based on your influence. The narration almost identical and while it's nice to have closure, the whole thing just felt half-assed to me.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Oh the level design was pretty good, I was getting more at the core mechanics & story - they fell horribly flat & I just found combat to be dull - especially with the right bone charms you can turn corvo into an absolute monster. This is sorta the problem with having super powers & going up against a bunch of retards (literally, AI was dumb as all hell) who are just normal shmucks with no real advantage barring the Tall Boys (even the guys with the music box thingy aren't a big threat). The enemy assassin guys are another story, but even they can be tackled easily enough if you're cautious.

Dishonored's magic formula is that you feel like a bad-ass, all the time - without ever feeling quite like the game is handing it to you on a silver platter.

If you want to feel like a powerless twit all the time, go play Demon's Souls.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

That's just it though, it did feel like it was being handed to me, between being able to see through walls, fast-travel etc...


Hell, even guards finding a sleeping body didn't automatically cause an alarm or cost you the not being seen award. Maybe I'm just jaded from playing so much MGS, Deus Ex & other such games?

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

That's just it though, it did feel like it was being handed to me, between being able to see through walls, fast-travel etc...


Hell, even guards finding a sleeping body didn't automatically cause an alarm or cost you the not being seen award. Maybe I'm just jaded from playing so much MGS, Deus Ex & other such games?

(a) Power use is optional. If you think it's overpowered, don't use it, mkay?

(b) Finding a sleeping/unconscious enemy does alert your enemies and make them move faster and react faster but doesn't cost you the Ghost award because - duh - you weren't seen. The award is to avoid being spotted, not to avoid giving any alerts.

If you really think the game is too easy, do a no-upgrade run with stealth. I promise it will be harder. ;P


Icemage

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I sincerely don't like having Corvo be a silent protagonist, as it plays heavily at odds with his obviously warm relationship with Emily

Don't agree, it would have spoiled the few things we had to learn about Corvo's relationships within the first scene of the game. I look at this one like I would Elder Scrolls or Resident Evil in terms of story delivery (I'm only mentioning RE here because its shitty story that may as well be silent since the lore does all the heavy lifting). We know enough of Corvo to know he starts out a pretty decent guy framed for murder of the Empress and its NPC conversations overheard and lore entires that help round out his character, other characters and Dunwall itself. Along with The Outsider, who's more or less an enigmatic plot device that just grants powers to persons of interest to see what happens.

Sometimes its better to keep a protagonist silent than paint your story into a corner really fast. Imagine how boring Portal and Portal 2 would have been if Chell had been able to say "That's my adopotive mother's voice inside that AI trying to kill me." That whole Take Your Daughter to Work Day thing would have fallen flat. I think Corvo's relationships creeping out over the course of the story lands in the same narrative ballpark.

It would be more strange if Doud goes silent when his DLC comes - then again, its very rare I care for someone to be a talking head in a first-person game. Works in Halo because Master Chief always has someone to talk to... or at least he did. Same thing with DX, always someone there for the protagonists to talk to like Pritchard or Tracer Tong. Powers being what they are in Dishonored, I don't think telepathy was meant to be among them. Probably would have ended The Outsiders enigmatic games faster than he wanted.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

(a) Power use is optional. If you think it's overpowered, don't use it, mkay?

(b) Finding a sleeping/unconscious enemy does alert your enemies and make them move faster and react faster but doesn't cost you the Ghost award because - duh - you weren't seen. The award is to avoid being spotted, not to avoid giving any alerts.

If you really think the game is too easy, do a no-upgrade run with stealth. I promise it will be harder. ;P


Icemage

Yeah but it doesn't even cause any alarms either, that's the really stupid thing. In Deus Ex:HR a sleeping (or especially dead) body could cost you big time. Not so much in Dishonored. It's even more ridiculous with the perk that turns them into ash when you stealth kill (or any kill at lv 2).

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Really? So you're honestly telling me you didn't see the whole mess after dealing with The Spymaster coming?

Sure I saw it coming, but I wasn't sure they'd actually follow through with it. It ended up being a nifty little moment of "oh good, I figured out what should happen next and so did they" which was satisfying.

Or how about how bland the last area is - ooooh it rains if you've been a psycho, or it's serene if you've spared people - otherwise pretty much the exact same layout and enemies. Ending's the same deal - Red/Gree/Blue explosion. Sick of games doing that.

There was nothing wrong with final level. The only problem with the ending was that it was so brief, everything else with it was fine.

But yeah like there's no real incentive for just slaughtering people other than less weepers, which never really struck me as much of a benefit anyway (they're easy enough to deal with) and I didn't care for the bulk of the powers being for lethal purposes nor the limitations on upgrades - please tell me why I was never allowed to upgrade my sleep bolt capacity for example since I wasn't going to be using any of the lethal stuff anyway lol ?

My brief time on the wiki suggests that the characters react to you differently depending on your body count, and I can tell you right now that if Samuel had behaved differently than how he does in a low chaos run, it would have ruined him for me. He was far and away my favorite character, but apparently if you kill everyone you come across he ends up being a dick to you. It would have made for a very different experience.

As Icemage points out, you're a flaming idiot if you think there aren't enough powers that let you do crazy shit with stealth. I have to concede the point on Sleep Darts however, as that was a gripe I had as well. The 10 dart limit made me very stingy with them and it worked out, but it was irritating to not be able to carry more, especially when you'd find extras in the field.

There weren't many choices to make, none of them being really impactful on the game or story... so yeah, Rental at best. I expected a lot more from those guys. A good game, but not GotY material by any stretch like at the VGAs lol (not that I ever take those seriously to begin with).

I'd totally nominate this as a contender for game of the year. Any game that grips me well enough to keep me playing 10 hours a day straight through until I finish it usually deserves a nod.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Samuel is pretty much the only one who reacts differently, and the only lines that change are when he carries you off from the pub, and when he drops you off at the final level. OOOOOOOh big influence there.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Samuel is pretty much the only one who reacts differently, and the only lines that change are when he carries you off from the pub, and when he drops you off at the final level. OOOOOOOh big influence there.

See folks, this is what happens when people get games and rush through them for achievements. You lose the ability to stop and smell the roses.

Not every game needs to be consumed like it were an item at the buffet.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Just because I was achievement hunting doesn't mean I didn't take everything in along the way - I just didn't care for most of it, and the bits I really DID love most (The outsider, the Heart) were mostly left to the imagination. The shrines added a tiny bit extra but not much. I found most of the files boring/uninteresting and just stopped reading them halfway through.