What are you playing now? [2018-2021]
- Thread starter Rootax
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It is. Critical acclaim is no shield from the scorn of the fearsome pirate, however. I'm the guy who thought Silent Hill 2 was arguably the most overrated game of the entire Playstation generation.
Walking to story nodes so I can click through dialog and get to the next thing I'm supposed to kill is extremely boring to me if I don't really find the story interesting (which I rarely do). The combat system is very competently executed. The problem is that it's solvable. Once you figure out how to set up your party to win every rock-paper-scissors match, each combat starts feeling more and more rote.
And I said before, it's not a game that fits Gygaxian RPG structure. The whole point of getting more hit points and doing more damage is to graduate from fighting kobolds & goblins to fighting bugbears and ogres. But in DOS2, you just keep fighting the same kinds of things for a very long time. So they should have come up with a different framework.
Ah, I should also add that I intensely dislike gear treadmills. I much prefer systems where I can upgrade and modify my favorite gear rather than Soul-Devourer: Blade of Chaos Level 5 needing to be replaced at some point by Basic Sword Level 9.
Speaking of RPGs, I'm still playing Dragon Age: Origins. Yesterday I finally beat Branka. Such a bitch! It was really difficult, I thought that I wouldn't make it.
Oh at DOS2 really likes "gotcha" fights where you get surprise-attacked, hit with AoE, get at least one party member stunned or killed, and will probably take a TPK if you don't reload the fight after knowing where bad guys appear. Also, eventually, everything flies. Dogs, tar slugs, heavily armored knights...everyone can fly. So protecting the squishies is mostly about trying to space things out so the AI doesn't dogpile the wizard. It's really kind of annoying.
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In DOS2, your party is always walking around in a "cluster" formation. The combat engine, however, is a turn-based tactical game that has a lot in common with games like X-COM or Fire Emblem. It's a very well-done engine; however, your primary way of engaging combat is "talk to NPC -> NPC turns hostile -> enemies spawn in -> enemies hammer your party with AoE / focus attacks on party members with weakest armor." It is typically extremely difficult to fight your way out of these situations without consuming precious resurrection scrolls, so the typical strategy is "talk to NPC -> NPC turns hostile -> enemies spawn in -> reload your game -> position party members in strategically useful starting positions -> talk to NPC." Worst case is "talk to NPC -> NPC turns hostile -> enemies spawn in -> reload your game -> change out your party's powers..."
Frankly, I think that fights that require save-scumming or prior knowledge to be extremely bad design. I realize that in 2018, most players will have a walkthrough in a browser tab, but I prefer to think on my feet. And the reason DOS2 leans on this strategy so heavily is that, in fact, if you begin combat in a decent position, after you've figured out how to synergize your characters' abilities, you will face-roll most encounters. Their main idea for keeping the challenge level up is to eventually have every monster fly and explode into large pools of cursed ooze. But even that isn't enough to keep the game from revealing the weak structure behind its facade.
In DOS2, your party is always walking around in a "cluster" formation. The combat engine, however, is a turn-based tactical game that has a lot in common with games like X-COM or Fire Emblem. It's a very well-done engine; however, your primary way of engaging combat is "talk to NPC -> NPC turns hostile -> enemies spawn in -> enemies hammer your party with AoE / focus attacks on party members with weakest armor." It is typically extremely difficult to fight your way out of these situations without consuming precious resurrection scrolls, so the typical strategy is "talk to NPC -> NPC turns hostile -> enemies spawn in -> reload your game -> position party members in strategically useful starting positions -> talk to NPC." Worst case is "talk to NPC -> NPC turns hostile -> enemies spawn in -> reload your game -> change out your party's powers..."
Frankly, I think that fights that require save-scumming or prior knowledge to be extremely bad design. I realize that in 2018, most players will have a walkthrough in a browser tab, but I prefer to think on my feet. And the reason DOS2 leans on this strategy so heavily is that, in fact, if you begin combat in a decent position, after you've figured out how to synergize your characters' abilities, you will face-roll most encounters. Their main idea for keeping the challenge level up is to eventually have every monster fly and explode into large pools of cursed ooze. But even that isn't enough to keep the game from revealing the weak structure behind its facade.
D
Deleted member 11852
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West of Loathing on Switch.
A brilliantly mental RPG.
A brilliantly mental RPG.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
When not playing Warframe, I've been completely sucked in by Octopath Traveller. I just unlocked the 2nd job system and my mind is going into overdrive on how I want to configure characters now. I'm 20 hours in, and I think I'm going a bit slower than your average person since I enjoy the combat so much that I'm trying to level up all 7 characters (you can't swap out your "main" character) relatively equally. So, I might still have another 150 or so hours to go to finish. >.<
Yes, an absolutely brilliant game. This is what Fallout 3 could have been if it was set in the old west, had a sense of humor and wasn't crapped on by Bethesda (it's probably getting old, but I'm still bitter about Bethesda not making a proper Fallout 3).
Regards,
SB
West of Loathing on Switch.
A brilliantly mental RPG.
Yes, an absolutely brilliant game. This is what Fallout 3 could have been if it was set in the old west, had a sense of humor and wasn't crapped on by Bethesda (it's probably getting old, but I'm still bitter about Bethesda not making a proper Fallout 3).
Regards,
SB
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D
Deleted member 11852
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I remember the first RAM I every bought in 1987, £90 got me 512k for an Amiga 2000. Back in them days RAM came as individual chips which you needed to plug into a separate board - static precautions absolutely necessary!
Yeah, way too much Batmobile-based missions for my liking. I quit it early.
Currently playing Gladiabots - purchasable from itch.io now or Early Access from Steam from 9 August. Really good fun - if you like programming bots.
Riddlewire
Regular
Just recently finished Dying Light on XBO.
It's the best game I've played this generation.
It's the best game I've played this generation.
Dragon’s Crown Pro - freakin’ brilliant game, and looks amazing in 4K.
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