Duck and Cover

Amis wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2483D_OVoUA

Outstanding.

If you swellguys aren't playing Underrail about now, you really should.

Also, merry watheveryoucallit. Got to git

Underrail is probably one of the best things I've played in years. Blows Wasteland 2 completely out of the water. Stuck in Depot A near the Junkyard, though. Went in under-equipped (which caught me by surprise because I bought an assault rifle + new armor + other supplies) and now I'm hiding and dodging everything in the vent system trying to find the damn drill parts. Everything up until that point was easy peasy, then suddenly brick wall. Probably need to level up some, but the oddity system makes that a bit more challenging.

I am conflicted regarding Underrail. In no particular order :

Psychic powers. Fuck yes, psychic powers.

The Oddity XP system is refreshingly novel, and encourages the realisation that combat should not be mandatory, which is bloody excellent.

<strike>I have always enjoyed shooting people with crossbows</strike> The stealth system is possibly the best I have seen implemented in an isometric turn based RPG. You can lure enemies through the use of explosives and gunfire, how often is this element ignored ? Such a fundamental detail shouldn't be neglected in games that boast (or worse, emphasise) the use of stealth. Yet it is, time and time again. Refreshingly, the act of stealth itself isn't reduced to a simple player skill > NPC perception comparison, but rather is determined mostly by proximity. In conjunction with the trap and crafting systems, I found skulking about, stealing everything, scorching retinas, cutting throats, bolting foreheads and liberally scattering exotically envenomed bear-traps virtually everywhere to be very satisfying indeed.

Sadly, NPCs ignore the presence of corpses, and the absence of those who have wandered off to become corpses. More (much more) work to account for with regard to AI and world design, certainly, but jarring, nonetheless.

However, while the game is, for the most part, consistent in avoiding the tragically traditional psychic NPC hivemind, there is one particularly glaring departure from this otherwise pleasant holiday from the usual laziness, where the behaviour and strategies one might have been employing for the entire game instead instantly declare you interloper, traitor and kill on sight to literally every extant member of that faction. This, in a situation where the player has been encouraged to infiltrate the aforementioned group, a group who have, naturally been less than honest with the player about certain thoroughly unwholesome details of their operations - details which, upon discovery, the player can only respond to within a tedious binary of apathy/violence.

This itself is a departure from the thankfully transparent system whereby certain zones, usually settlements and bases, are declared as 'Controlled', and you are informed that hostilities and general churlishness will be reliably traced back to you. An abstraction of insular communities and/or the unseen bystander effect, I suppose.

I enjoyed the sense of exploration that the game allowed, it feels vast (as it should). However, if you're a completionist, it will entail frequent backtracking. Despite the scale of the game, I haven't encountered many non-hostile NPCs outside of settlements. Unless you count corpses. A thematic choice, perhaps ? In fact, most of the game world appears to be populated exclusively by assorted hostile bandits and (some admittedly quite creative) mutants.

I'm probably in a minority, but I found it mildly nostalgic to have to draw my own maps, it's been years since I've had cause to do so for a game. That said, while I appreciate that Underrail averted the all too common crutch of the dreaded minimap, or worse, enemies as inexplicable blips on your non-existent radar ; I can certainly empathise with those who've criticised the wholesale absence of even the most basic of mapping systems, like in Thief- TDP, or, somewhat more ambitiously, the realtime (and skill influenced) cartography system like in the Eschalon series (probably the only aspect of those games that I found impressive).

The plot and writing are serviceable, certainly sufficient motivation for wandering, however there are some elements from the late game that I found . . . aggravating. Caveat Spoilers :

A certain six fingered fellow, who when he deigns to notice them, answers virtually all questions with You Wouldn't Understand, demands your assistance for reasons You Wouldn't Understand, provides no cogent motivation more complex than But Thou Must, and if you dare to say <strike>no</strike> the wrong thing he will fight you to your death, because he is also entirely bloody invulnerable. I checked. Exhaustively. Evidently, he will be front and centre in the hypothetical sequel. Regardless, he feels like an author avatar or pet. I only know that it rankles.

Hilariously, even later on, if you're especially persistent and convincing, he reveals his goal : he wants you to assist him in finding someone who really pissed him off (because his efforts alone haven't worked out as well as he assumed they would) so that he can kill them.

Ahahahaha. Christ.

Then there are the Faceless, a loose confederation of professional Highly Mysterious and Enigmatic mole men. You can encounter them on several occasions, even assist them in their search for a <strike>fancy battery</strike> suitably Inscrutable and Ludicrously Powerful device that <strike>they misplaced</strike> . . . that's right, You Wouldn't Understand. At one point, you'll likely run into them and a particular hostage of theirs, an unfortunate fellow who they're convinced will be helpful in their search. Naturally, being an RPG protagonist, there's a good chance you've been tasked by another party to intervene and attempt to save said hostage.

At this point, you could do the obvious and traditional thing of kicking in the door and killing them all, because this is probably your first meeting with the Faceless and they're hostile on sight, so why not ?

If instead you manage to sneak an audience with the leader of the group, and convince him to release their guest - they will do so, with some reluctance, commenting that they can always return later and kill him if they feel like it. If you do this, a different group of Faceless will outright tell you to fuck off forever much, much, much later on, while still expecting your unwitting aid in a situation that they would have asserted - if you were but inclined to unintuitive, counterproductive behaviour - they are literally incapable of resolving without a convenient gopher.

If you save the hostage, even if you have assisted them at every other possible juncture, they will <strike>cut their collective noses off</strike> refuse to talk to you, refuse to spend even the slightest effort on explaining why what they want should be what you want. Why do they seemingly care about one life so very, very much ? Is it a bug, an oversight ?

Why would they be comfortable entrusting such a daunting (kill a thing) and vitally important (so we can not die) task to someone they could, in many instances, outright refuse to interact with ? Because (as you would learn if you hadn't buggered everything up by not failing that one quest some 15-20 odd hours ago) the being that now possesses (through a series of events which is, itself, a hilarious and protracted comedy of mind boggling fuckups) their precious and inscrutable device (a being that you would learn they literally created) is emitting a nasty psychic field that murks them with great efficiency, which they are vulnerable to because (ahahaha) their brains are superior to yours.

So, they sit smugly upon their hands, content to let you wander blindly while they remain trapped against a wall by a force they cannot effectively oppose or defeat. If, by some ludicrous happenstance, you've garnered their approval, they delegate to you because they regard you as a lesser lifeform that they nonetheless expect to perform a feat that is, for them, impossible. Because fuck you.

So, you're left to do all the work, as the alternative is uninstalling the game. You kill The Ugliest Thing and pry the Shiny Thing from its congealing anatomy, which overall requires a rather significant amount of effort, and plenty of travel (and, naturally, backtravel) through an unusually hostile environment full of difficult, endlessly respawning foes ; and once the dust has settled, the Faceless, they arrive to demand their shiny, shiny shiny thing which they want for reasons You Still Wouldn't Understand, they answer precisely none of your questions, and if you fail to mindlessly obey, they fight you to the death.

But you can, at least, kill them. It's a pleasantly challenging (and bloodily cathartic) fight.

TLDR : I mostly enjoyed my time with Underrail until I found my way to the Under Caverns, where the tone of the game changed drastically and abruptly, and I was met by extensive irritation. Then, I persevered due to <strike>foolishness</strike> bloody mindedness, and in retrospect, I really wish I hadn't because it tainted all that preceded it.

Even so, I concede that it is better than Wasteland 2, but then, most things are.

FIN

Underrail is dope

So XCOM 2: Electric Boogaloo is a thing.

It's a thing that's eating up all my time, is what it is.

Only a couple grievances, it's largely a straight upgrade over the old one gameplay-wise. However I wish there were more tiers of weapons, it's lacking lasers and the plasma guns of the first would have been nice callbacks, or having some analog therein. The power armor looks dumb, too. Too sleek and skinny. I like my power armor bulky, though this is just an aesthetic gripe more than anything. I think playing Long War for so long has spoiled me with all the classes and weapon-types and the slew of extra items and things, as far as XCOM2 to XCOM1 are concerned it's a better game, but XCOM1 with Long War is still a slightly better product. I can only hope to see what Long War Studios will do with an actual SDK this go-round.

After six years I finally sat down and figured out how to play Caravan in New Vegas.

Blargh wrote:I am conflicted regarding Underrail. In no particular order :

Psychic powers. Fuck yes, psychic powers.

The Oddity XP system is refreshingly novel, and encourages the realisation that combat should not be mandatory, which is bloody excellent.

<strike>I have always enjoyed shooting people with crossbows</strike> The stealth system is possibly the best I have seen implemented in an isometric turn based RPG. You can lure enemies through the use of explosives and gunfire, how often is this element ignored ? Such a fundamental detail shouldn't be neglected in games that boast (or worse, emphasise) the use of stealth. Yet it is, time and time again. Refreshingly, the act of stealth itself isn't reduced to a simple player skill > NPC perception comparison, but rather is determined mostly by proximity. In conjunction with the trap and crafting systems, I found skulking about, stealing everything, scorching retinas, cutting throats, bolting foreheads and liberally scattering exotically envenomed bear-traps virtually everywhere to be very satisfying indeed.

Sadly, NPCs ignore the presence of corpses, and the absence of those who have wandered off to become corpses. More (much more) work to account for with regard to AI and world design, certainly, but jarring, nonetheless.

However, while the game is, for the most part, consistent in avoiding the tragically traditional psychic NPC hivemind, there is one particularly glaring departure from this otherwise pleasant holiday from the usual laziness, where the behaviour and strategies one might have been employing for the entire game instead instantly declare you interloper, traitor and kill on sight to literally every extant member of that faction. This, in a situation where the player has been encouraged to infiltrate the aforementioned group, a group who have, naturally been less than honest with the player about certain thoroughly unwholesome details of their operations - details which, upon discovery, the player can only respond to within a tedious binary of apathy/violence.

This itself is a departure from the thankfully transparent system whereby certain zones, usually settlements and bases, are declared as 'Controlled', and you are informed that hostilities and general churlishness will be reliably traced back to you. An abstraction of insular communities and/or the unseen bystander effect, I suppose.

I enjoyed the sense of exploration that the game allowed, it feels vast (as it should). However, if you're a completionist, it will entail frequent backtracking. Despite the scale of the game, I haven't encountered many non-hostile NPCs outside of settlements. Unless you count corpses. A thematic choice, perhaps ? In fact, most of the game world appears to be populated exclusively by assorted hostile bandits and (some admittedly quite creative) mutants.

I'm probably in a minority, but I found it mildly nostalgic to have to draw my own maps, it's been years since I've had cause to do so for a game. That said, while I appreciate that Underrail averted the all too common crutch of the dreaded minimap, or worse, enemies as inexplicable blips on your non-existent radar ; I can certainly empathise with those who've criticised the wholesale absence of even the most basic of mapping systems, like in Thief- TDP, or, somewhat more ambitiously, the realtime (and skill influenced) cartography system like in the Eschalon series (probably the only aspect of those games that I found impressive).

The plot and writing are serviceable, certainly sufficient motivation for wandering, however there are some elements from the late game that I found . . . aggravating. Caveat Spoilers :

A certain six fingered fellow, who when he deigns to notice them, answers virtually all questions with You Wouldn't Understand, demands your assistance for reasons You Wouldn't Understand, provides no cogent motivation more complex than But Thou Must, and if you dare to say <strike>no</strike> the wrong thing he will fight you to your death, because he is also entirely bloody invulnerable. I checked. Exhaustively. Evidently, he will be front and centre in the hypothetical sequel. Regardless, he feels like an author avatar or pet. I only know that it rankles.

Hilariously, even later on, if you're especially persistent and convincing, he reveals his goal : he wants you to assist him in finding someone who really pissed him off (because his efforts alone haven't worked out as well as he assumed they would) so that he can kill them.

Ahahahaha. Christ.

Then there are the Faceless, a loose confederation of professional Highly Mysterious and Enigmatic mole men. You can encounter them on several occasions, even assist them in their search for a <strike>fancy battery</strike> suitably Inscrutable and Ludicrously Powerful device that <strike>they misplaced</strike> . . . that's right, You Wouldn't Understand. At one point, you'll likely run into them and a particular hostage of theirs, an unfortunate fellow who they're convinced will be helpful in their search. Naturally, being an RPG protagonist, there's a good chance you've been tasked by another party to intervene and attempt to save said hostage.

At this point, you could do the obvious and traditional thing of kicking in the door and killing them all, because this is probably your first meeting with the Faceless and they're hostile on sight, so why not ?

If instead you manage to sneak an audience with the leader of the group, and convince him to release their guest - they will do so, with some reluctance, commenting that they can always return later and kill him if they feel like it. If you do this, a different group of Faceless will outright tell you to fuck off forever much, much, much later on, while still expecting your unwitting aid in a situation that they would have asserted - if you were but inclined to unintuitive, counterproductive behaviour - they are literally incapable of resolving without a convenient gopher.

If you save the hostage, even if you have assisted them at every other possible juncture, they will <strike>cut their collective noses off</strike> refuse to talk to you, refuse to spend even the slightest effort on explaining why what they want should be what you want. Why do they seemingly care about one life so very, very much ? Is it a bug, an oversight ?

Why would they be comfortable entrusting such a daunting (kill a thing) and vitally important (so we can not die) task to someone they could, in many instances, outright refuse to interact with ? Because (as you would learn if you hadn't buggered everything up by not failing that one quest some 15-20 odd hours ago) the being that now possesses (through a series of events which is, itself, a hilarious and protracted comedy of mind boggling fuckups) their precious and inscrutable device (a being that you would learn they literally created) is emitting a nasty psychic field that murks them with great efficiency, which they are vulnerable to because (ahahaha) their brains are superior to yours.

So, they sit smugly upon their hands, content to let you wander blindly while they remain trapped against a wall by a force they cannot effectively oppose or defeat. If, by some ludicrous happenstance, you've garnered their approval, they delegate to you because they regard you as a lesser lifeform that they nonetheless expect to perform a feat that is, for them, impossible. Because fuck you.

So, you're left to do all the work, as the alternative is uninstalling the game. You kill The Ugliest Thing and pry the Shiny Thing from its congealing anatomy, which overall requires a rather significant amount of effort, and plenty of travel (and, naturally, backtravel) through an unusually hostile environment full of difficult, endlessly respawning foes ; and once the dust has settled, the Faceless, they arrive to demand their shiny, shiny shiny thing which they want for reasons You Still Wouldn't Understand, they answer precisely none of your questions, and if you fail to mindlessly obey, they fight you to the death.

But you can, at least, kill them. It's a pleasantly challenging (and bloodily cathartic) fight.

TLDR : I mostly enjoyed my time with Underrail until I found my way to the Under Caverns, where the tone of the game changed drastically and abruptly, and I was met by extensive irritation. Then, I persevered due to <strike>foolishness</strike> bloody mindedness, and in retrospect, I really wish I hadn't because it tainted all that preceded it.

Even so, I concede that it is better than Wasteland 2, but then, most things are.

FIN

long post is looong

Ok, so I suppose I'll get this one.

Age of Decadence, finally. It's interesting, but a bit too hardcore, maybe?

S4ur0n27 wrote:Age of Decadence, finally. It's interesting, but a bit too hardcore, maybe?

How so?

I'm just a the beginning, so this is a preemptive opinion, but combats are too costly. To the point where I try to talk my way out of everything. Even though I'd like to play some tough guy. Anyhow, maybe it changes later.

Still, there are some pains, like the lack of a minimap, or at least a damned compass. The loadings take forever and come back every now and then. Which is really bad for a game in which you die a lot/reload a lot because you just got into an impossible fight. It is beyond me that the loadings are so long with such ordinary graphics (which I don't mind, they're cool, IMHO). What, is the text so long to load?

It's like someone forgot to remind the devs that this is a GAME.

Still, Ima play it

DARK SOULS 3

S4ur0n27 wrote:I'm just a the beginning, so this is a preemptive opinion, but combats are too costly. To the point where I try to talk my way out of everything. Even though I'd like to play some tough guy. Anyhow, maybe it changes later.

Still, there are some pains, like the lack of a minimap, or at least a damned compass. The loadings take forever and come back every now and then. Which is really bad for a game in which you die a lot/reload a lot because you just got into an impossible fight. It is beyond me that the loadings are so long with such ordinary graphics (which I don't mind, they're cool, IMHO). What, is the text so long to load?

It's like someone forgot to remind the devs that this is a GAME.

Still, Ima play it

So on the spectrum of Simulationist <---> Heroic Cinematics,

AoD is in the left half?

Bit too much to the left, yes. I find myself wanting for something easier to jump in and out.

Have you played Brigador ? You should play Brigador. It's the messed up spawn of Syndicate and Mechwarrior 3050 that enjoys setting <strike>people</strike> things on fire.

It offers - urban renewal on a planet where the concept of war crimes is regarded as quaintly amusing, mechs, explosions, Schadenfreude, neon, an excellent soundtrack, frantic pedestrians to crush beneath your vehicle, explosions, tanks, a wide variety of entertaining weaponry to share with abandon, hovertanks, frequent death, corporate legalese, explosions. Also, it's easily modifiable.

It's fucking great, and deserves wider recognition. If you disagree, please vigorously shut yourself in a door at the earliest opportunity.

ALSO - HELLO.

Brigador

Added to list.

I've had my eye on Brigador for a while now, but I've held off since I haven't been able to ask anyone how it is. Reckon I'll have to get it with your recommendation, now. I found a game similar to that on Moddb called Antraxx, though that's a lot earlier in development. Like, majorly pre-alpha.

That said, I've got Stellaris to play, though I'm waiting for game updates for that. I'm going through Call of Pripyat with the Call of Chernobyl mod which makes it almost a new game. Got another run of New Vegas going.

Company of Heroes 2 is slowly eating up my time since I'm trying to git gud in multiplayer.

Somehow I keep playing Mechwarrior Online, and as per Mad Max RW's recommendation I'm waiting for DOOM to go on sale before I pick it up. That's becoming increasingly difficult since I really want to play it. As excited as I was that Dawn of War 3 was announced every new bit of information I see about it I keep getting worried that it's being casualized and dumbed down.[/blog]

SenisterDenister wrote: Mechwarrior Online

Can I get a pink Jenner?

You can get a jenner in-game and paint it pink, yes. Pink costs real money, though. It's free-to-play so a micro-transaction style thing is to be expected. It's hard to recommend the game, when you play it you can see the potential it can be, and flat out it plays better than every other Mechwarrior game I've played, but in terms of balance and dev decisions it's just been on a slow burn to shitsville since its inception. I've been playing since its closed beta in 2012 and have put in more time playing it than I'm willing to admit, but as far as a rompy stompy mech game it's filling the void.

Rimworld is great. DOOM is great. Battletech the video game is looking really good, too.