Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Oh yes, the Cyclops has not been the boost in confidence I hoped it to be. Crying shame they did not implement coop for this one, the Cyclops is just screaming for a larger crew to operate it properly.

I have the PRAWN suit as well now and I want to love it, but damn is it an everloving bother to operate and recover. At least it has air for as long as the power cell lasts. Which is the next project, I am not a fan of base building, but I need a place to recharge my batteries and power cells for my vehicles and tools.

Fear of the deep aside, my main annoyance is how much of the game is just you needing to figure things out yourself, I spent way too much time on the wiki figuring things out.

Nothing in either subnautica scares me more than the Reaper! The spiky head and the god awful scream make for an truly disturbing combo in a beastie that can basically appear out of nowhere


Automatically Appended Next Post:
In Diablo news, I have bumped the altars in 4 of the 5 zones. Takes about 1.5 hours to go through them all, including taking out the fortress thingies. Well on track to get them all done for the new season.’thinking of taking the necromancer this time as Druid seems to get a bad rep online.

I finished up the Diablo4 story/campaign.

I'm baffled by Blizzard's continued devotion to replace story with mystery boxes, where they do beautifully rendered scenes of villains talking around their motivations and goals in the most obtuse way possible.

I guess its so you can fit in whatever allegory you want without feeling dated or out of touch?

But at least they stuck to their 'a worse threat is coming' formula. As WoW players can tell you, that's always a winner.



----
Anyway. Weirdest aspect of the ending was speed running multiple named Lesser Evils with no fanfare or build-up. Even the talky ones from previous games are just grunting thugs, put down with little commentary or interest.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, just finished all the altars of Lilith! As a byproduct, also got all the zone bonuses for 3 of the 5 zones. Should get all the 5 realms completed before the season drops for additional benefits.

 Flinty wrote:

Spoiler:

I think the tyranny bit is to do with the idea that rejecting Lilith is by definition siding with the status quo, and therefor an unprepared population will fall either to the incoming demons or angels.

.

That will probably happen, yeah. But that isn't

Got back on Star Valor. It's a pretty addictive game.

Voss wrote:

That will probably happen, yeah. But that isn't

Spoiler:

Though, one of the big failings of the series is it doesn't, afaik, really deal with why either side gives a single bean about Sanctuary. You'd think all these temporary losses of the Prime Evils (and Lesser Evils) would give theHeavens an advantage in the Eternal Conflict. The angels generally don't lose their soldiers and generals in the same kind of numbers (the Death Guy last time and the Bloody Idiot this time being exceptions, and it seems clear that they wrote off Inarius ages ago.

The Prime Evils were effectively lost for a long time before the first game, though. In each of the games, you're tasked with *stopping* one or more Prime Evils from resuming their previous position, essentially returning things to the status quo.

Also, the last (pre-expansion) act of the third game is basically you racing to catch up to Diablo as he (she?) marches unstoppably through the heavens. If Diablo can do that on the angels' home turf, it suggests that the angels are no longer all that when compared with the demons.

No idea what 4 has to say on the matter, as I haven't played it (and am not likely to anytime soon).

Eumerin wrote:

No idea what 4 has to say on the matter, as I haven't played it (and am not likely to anytime soon).

I certainly don't recommend it. The campaign is skimpy, the grind to unlock everything tedious, and the end game that you unlock everything for is non-existent.

Its very blizzard in the worst possible way.


Edit: and cool. Most of the renown unlocks don't carry over to the season. Just the first two. That's... hours and hours of pure grinding. Re-grinding in fact, on top of the new grind.
Nope.

More DS3 commentary.
I'm past Deacons of the Deep, which isn't all that far into the game (5 bosses? 4 required, 1 optional I think).
Bonfires feel scarce compared to Sekiro and Elden Ring, but you can still run past mobs easily for the most part.
No boss has taken more than 3 attempts so far. The first 3 took two. Crystal Sage and Deacon took 3. Crystal Sage should've been 2, but I got overzealous and died to stupid.
I don't really feel like I'm missing anything compared to ER, largely because the mobs are the same difficulty or easier and the bosses are absolutely easier so far, but I know the ones I've killed are amongst the easiest.

Visually, DS3 actually looks better than ER, but that's because ER's CPU demands are dramatically higher...
In terms of difficulty, I feel like as a whole DS3 is harder than both Sekiro and ER because in Sekiro you have infinite stamina and deflections are easy (once you learn them). ER has summoning cheese and as an open world game you can get broken very quickly if you no where to go. Even when I first played Sekiro I was stalled by bosses, not mobs. Despite knowing the gameplay loop, the mobs in DS3 are are easily the most annoying so far.

As far as the lore goes, I know the high level lore of Dark Souls, but not the details, and I don't care. GRRM genuinely elevated the world building from Dark Souls to Elden Ring. The macro story in ER is fairly bland, but the details are superb.

My biggest gripe is that I don't understand the hype of ER (mind you, I like DS3 and ER, I have 100+ hours in ER). I have zero interest in Starfield despite being a long time Bethesda fan. From a strictly gameplay perspective ER is just an open world Dark Souls game. That's not a bad thing, not by any stretch, but it doesn't explain why ER was hyped up so much.

I think the things you mentioned:
- Summoning Cheese
- The ability to go elsewhere and find ways to progress
- Elevated worldbuilding with superb details

These things took the superb experience of the Dark Souls games and added elements that made the process of approaching and overcoming its challenges more rewarding for a wider audience. In truth, it's an evolution of what FromSoft has been doing for years, but to many, its the revolution they've been missing out on, fully experienced for the first time.

just finished a run through of Suikoden 4, the only one from the main series i didn't beat way back when
makes me miss the series, even if 4 is clearly the worst of the 5, what with the overly aggressive random encounter math
the very empty world map that makes taking your what should be cool cannon loaded ship/base around just a drag
and the fact its just damn short compared to the rest of the games (pretty sure i could make it through the game in
under 30 hours if i didn't waste time goofing around raising up the lvls and gear on characters i didn't end up really needing).

kinda find myself wanting to do a replay of some other games of that era now that i remember fondly, like breathe of fire 3 and 4

 LunarSol wrote:
I think the things you mentioned:
- Summoning Cheese
- The ability to go elsewhere and find ways to progress
- Elevated worldbuilding with superb details

These things took the superb experience of the Dark Souls games and added elements that made the process of approaching and overcoming its challenges more rewarding for a wider audience. In truth, it's an evolution of what FromSoft has been doing for years, but to many, its the revolution they've been missing out on, fully experienced for the first time.

The worldbuilding and details are good. I think both Sekiro and DS3 benefit greatly from not being so expansive. There are alternate routes, to a degree, and you can always farm if needed.

I think Spirit Ashes were the worst thing Fromsoftware could have introduced. You can't convince me that ER isn't balanced around summons. If it isn't, Fromsoft intentionally designed bosses with minimal openings AND nerfed parry on top of that. They're absolutely doable without Spirit Ashes, but it feels like the fights take dramatically longer and you're forced to be more passive.

Abyss Watchers felt like a fair fight. Pontiff did as well, but he was too susceptible to parry. I'd say the rest have been too easy, but I have the benefit of playing other FS games beforehand. Yhorm is the only one that was awful. Terrible, terrible fight specific gimmick.

Edit: Managed Aldrich fairly quickly (5 attempts I think), but I was one hit from death. Dancer was a joke, I healed after Aldrich and leveled up twice and then one shot her. She's the opposite of an ER boss, I swear she just stood there half the fight and did 3-string combos that were easy enough to dodge. I think I'm far enough in to say that Sekiro is a much harder game. Both benefit from knowing movesets, Sekiro moreso imo, but you can brute force a lot in DS3. I understood why they upped the ante in ER, but I think they went a bit too far.

Wild Hearts and Gotham Knights.

 greenskin lynn wrote:
just finished a run through of Suikoden 4, the only one from the main series i didn't beat way back when
makes me miss the series, even if 4 is clearly the worst of the 5, what with the overly aggressive random encounter math
the very empty world map that makes taking your what should be cool cannon loaded ship/base around just a drag
and the fact its just damn short compared to the rest of the games (pretty sure i could make it through the game in
under 30 hours if i didn't waste time goofing around raising up the lvls and gear on characters i didn't end up really needing).

kinda find myself wanting to do a replay of some other games of that era now that i remember fondly, like breathe of fire 3 and 4

Breath of Fire 4 is such a good game.

Tried out the new D4 season, and got bored immediately

Maybe I just burned out a bit getting all the Lilith statues, or maybe it’s now just all the same grind…

So I tried out the Roguetech mod pack for Battletech, and instantly concluded that this level of challenge is not what I’m after. I am firmly in the “wanting to drown things” level of challenge If the enemies could actually be trapped in a barrel to make it easier for me to shoot them, so much the better!

Saw that Sea of Thieves was doing a Monkey Island cross-over, so I reinstalled the game. After fumbling around a bit, I finally made my way to the area where you're supposed to start the Monkey Island content...

And promptly found myself fifty feet underwater with no ship. Making my way up to the surface, I found the nearby merman, and got teleported back to my ship... which was at a port. I fumbled around for a bit, wandering around the map aimlessly for a couple of hours, and eventually realized that in order to pass through the "archway" again (i.e. the content starting point), I needed to abandon and restart the mission. I did that, headed on through the archway, and finally found myself on Melee Island.

I won't say too much to avoid spoiling it for anyone who's interested in playing it. It appears to be set immediately after the third game, which ends with Guybrush and Elaine leaving on their honeymoon. The Pirate Lord in Sea of Thieves invited the two to come to the Sea of Thieves for part of their honeymoon, but they never arrived. So he's asked you to investigate.

If you've played the games, there are a number of familiar faces and easter eggs (including one old sailer who tells you about a great new upcoming game... called "Loom" ). It's quite short, and can be played through quite quickly. But it's an interesting thing to look at if you're a fan of Monkey Island. Buying Sea of Thieves just for the Monkey Island content would be a bad idea. But if you already own the game, the Monkey Island content is free. It's basically like playing an adventure game - but in first person 3d instead of a 2d point and click. My main complaint is that getting all of the achievements in it appears to require you to locate every last coin (pieces of eight; your regular currency is useless in this tie-in) on the island, no matter where they're hidden. And even if you don't find all of them, you still need to find a ridiculous amount just to progress through the basic plot. It's annoying, and seems horribly out of place in something inspired by a LucasArts adventure game.

It's part one, with subsequent parts coming in the future.

 amazingturtles wrote:

 greenskin lynn wrote:
just finished a run through of Suikoden 4, the only one from the main series i didn't beat way back when
makes me miss the series, even if 4 is clearly the worst of the 5, what with the overly aggressive random encounter math
the very empty world map that makes taking your what should be cool cannon loaded ship/base around just a drag
and the fact its just damn short compared to the rest of the games (pretty sure i could make it through the game in
under 30 hours if i didn't waste time goofing around raising up the lvls and gear on characters i didn't end up really needing).

kinda find myself wanting to do a replay of some other games of that era now that i remember fondly, like breathe of fire 3 and 4

Breath of Fire 4 is such a good game.

I think I prefer 3, but 4 is definitely no slouch. I think I prefer them to most of the Final Fantasy's of the PS1 era.

 Flinty wrote:
Tried out the new D4 season, and got bored immediately

Maybe I just burned out a bit getting all the Lilith statues, or maybe it’s now just all the same grind…

Same. The patch nonsense followed by the team doing a public 'fireside' talk to justify themselves and then collectively waffling about how they're going to handle things in the future was pretty much the last nail.

So I went back to Dwarf Fortress.
We were still working on the outer defenses when a Forest Titan attacked (a giant tarantula, thankfully without webs). Couldn't get everyone back inside in time (I think I lost 5-6* dwarves), but they put up a surprising fight, breaking numerous legs. Finally one of my lumberjacks put it down.

*one survived wounded, but wouldn't move away from the interior drawbridge. In retrospect, I could have dug around it and let her in, but smashed her instead. Whoops.
In fairness, I would have had to dig around two bridges, and I was in a hurry to save the wounded titan slayer and butcher the titan for meat and bones, so... I didn't think of it.

Hopped back into Darktide for a bit, playing as something completely different, a zealot. The game is fun again with randos, not because of the class, zealot is not really my jam so far, but because I am stuck with other lower levelled players who don't speedrun every map.

Highlight so far was playing a map with a slab and two other zealots, who just like me had flamers. The Ogryn, despite being a new player, really picked up the slack when it came to ranged support hehe, while three idiots with flamers just set everything on fire that came too close to him.

Got back into Red Dead Redemption 2 because I had been watching clips from Youtube. Just collecting as many gold bars and upgrades as I can in the early 2 chapters. This game is a masterpiece no doubt, but for some reason it just didn't grab me when it launched.

Also bought and played a bit of Jagged Alliance 3. Still kind of on the fence about it, but first few missions were enjoyable. After the ultra-serious Aliens : Dark Decent, its a bit jarring how tongue in cheek this game is.

Also Also, going to be playing some Remnant 2 with a Steam buddy this week.

I've got 3 bosses left in DS3 basegame (killing all the optionals ofc) and at this point I can safely say it's 100% a better game than ER.
If you liked ER and haven't played Dark Souls, I absolutely recommend getting this game. It is easily the most fun I have outside of Sekiro and Nioh 2 in the last 5 years.

Strangely, I think the difficulty is wildly exaggerated. Sekiro is hard, it might be the hardest because it requires a specific playstyle, but it's not that hard. For comparison, back in WoW Legion I went for the Arms Warrior Mage Tower skin. I had an outdated PC and mediocre internet. I have no doubt I took at least 30 attempts to beat that boss 1v1. I recently bought Jedi Academy, a game I played years and years ago, because of a sale. Even on the default difficulty, you can be killed in 1-2 seconds in certain scenarios. Fromsoftware games punish you by not allowing save scumming and requiring focus even for normal enemies, but that's it. Old games like Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy are likely harder on max difficulty than any FS game on NG.

Ixion. I beat it when it came out and decided to give it a go on the new challenge difficulty. I feel like the game is much more enjoyable for me this second time around. Mostly that’s because now I have a much better idea of how to make my sectors layout and planning ahead. I actually feel a lot of satisfaction from my station running smoothly. I remember that I was very bothered by some things in Ixion. Like the lack of resolutions to request, the lackluster (and almost absent) political system and the fact that you did very little actual interaction with your population other then building your base and setting your policies. Now that I don’t have the expectations of law and politics in space I feel like I can appreciate the game more for what it actually is. The increased difficulty doesn’t really change much. Just build one more EVA airlock to repair then you normally would and you’re good to go.

Pikmin 4.

What a delightful puzzler of a game. Nothing too strenuous, but without losing a rewarding feeling when you figure something out.

If you have Smols, you can’t go anymore wrong with this charmer than can with a Katamari game. And even if don’t have Smols, this really is a pleasing puzzle game with a side of (simplistic) combat.

Pikmin 2 is one of my all time favorites. I didn't gel as much with 3, but that might just be a result of it being on the U.

Mechwarrior 5

Did my first drop with a Vindicare Assassin in Chaos Gate: Daemon Hunters.

The "bonus reward" for this mission was to only use a 3 man squad, so it was my Vindy, a dual sword wielding Grey Knight Interceptor and a Justicar with halberd.

The assassin was level 1, so doesn't have his full suite of abilities yet, but he impressed. Fired 5 times, killed maybe 10 of the enemy due to using explosive items in the environment. My two grey knight did the up close and personal work.

I also got caught unawares by reinforcements after achieving the main objective and discovered that the assassin is super soft. Almost got him killed because I was too aggressive.

Looking forward to unlocking more assassins! Going to get an Eversor into the mix asap.

I've got 3 total bosses left for DS3 across the base game and DLCs. I've used NPC summons on Old Demon King, Frieda, and Demon Prince (I can't pass up summoning Slave Knight Gael).

Nameless King has been by far the worst and I would absolutely recommend cheating this fight if you can. Phase 1 is you vs the camera and a handful of one-two shot abilities. In phase 2 he can stagger lock you to death if you miss a roll. Easily does more damage than any other boss I've encountered. Frieda has an annoying invisibility move, but you can parry her. I used summons because I hate 2v1 boss fights and phase 2 is really annoying without a distraction for one of your enemies. Demon Prince isn't as hard as Frieda or Nameless King, I just didn't want to spend more time than I had to on it because it's a very bland fight to me and I don't like the gank fights. The second boss of the first DLC (Gravetender and Greatwolf I think?) is a joke. You can easily parry him with Caestus and massive enemies hit hard but are slow and easy to dodge.

TF 2, Summer update has been all things considered great.
I am starting to get into the deeper movement mechanics, even if i still suck at them, looking at you cannon jumping and det jumping.

Other than that, positively hyped for the AOE3 DE update that should come this evening 20:00.

Alas i am stretched thin between work and Master.

Finally Beat XCom Chimera Squad. I'll give them credit for trying something new but somehow it ends up being less than the sum of its parts. Doesn't have that additive quality where I want to play another game right away. Only replay value is to perhaps try out some of the other characters.

At some point in the night, my download of Baldur's Gate 3 completed.

Messed around with the character/class creation for a time this morning and completed up til you find Asterion. Going in hard on this game this weekend.