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Bullhax

Vampire Count
True Blood
Sep 12, 2011
1,052
Alien isolation looks rather good, due to money, timeconstrains and the fact it is single player I'll have to wait for it for thr time being.!

What games do you look the most forward to in '15?
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
@Count michael Sorry about the link, try it now ;)

Yep the crossbow is cool though I am hopeless at disarming bombs for parts, have blown myself up so many times :sick:

@Bullhax Alien is just awesome, especially for fans of the original movie.

As for upcoming games probably a lot but off the top of my head The Witcher 3, Bloodbourne, and The Order 1886 all in Feb 2015, MGS5, Uncharted 4, Mortal Kombat X, Batman Arkham Knight, Hellblade, No Man's Sky, Hotline Miami 2, Ratchet and Clank PS4 reboot, Persona 5, Until Dawn. Plus I think there will be some more games announced as there area lot of studios with currently unannounced projects ;)
 

Sception

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Sep 23, 2009
2,714
What games do you look the most forward to in '15?

Herpaderp, there's a thread for video games in general, why am I posting separate threads?

anyway, I'm excited for DA:Inquisition and the next pokemon game, but I think they're both this year. Not sure what's coming out next year.
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
@Malisteen Yep, I have Dragon Age Inquisition pre-ordered, looks great, it is out in November 2014. Lords of the Fallen, a 'Souls' clone is also out in late October 2014, looks a bit like Darksiders meets Dark Souls, might be okay, will keep an eye on it.
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
Well I went ahead and bought an Xbox 1 to sit next to my PS4 just to play Sunset Overdrive and I'm not regretting it. Super fun game with heaps of style, plays like an adult version of Ratchet and Clank series meets Saints Row 3.

Looking forward to Dragon age Inquisition later this month, going to bust out my female elf necromancer build I believe, if that is possible.

Has anyone played Lords of the Fallen? Looks good and as a Souls fan I will have to check it out, just no time/space currently.
 

Get of W'soran

CN's Lord of Masks
True Blood
Apr 23, 2008
9,239
Behind the Throne
@robtion

Sunset overdrive is amazing :)

Did you get Inquisition on the xbox one? With EA Access you not only save money but should get early access to the game (I think it's 7 days early?)

My friend got Lords of the Fallen and claims to be bored already but if I were you I'd watch a few twitch streams, I've been watching it on the xbox one app whilst messing around on the PC.
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
@Get of W'soran Yep I really liked all the Ratchet and Clank series and Sunset is like Ratchet all grown up so suits me well. The mutants also resemble the Chimera, the monsters from their Resistance series.

Will probably pick up DA:I on PS4 as it will likely run better and I plan to basically just use the xb1 for exclusives. A week early would be nice but I have so many games to play currently and so little time that its not an issue.

I don't feel like EA access is worthwhile for me yet as Dragon Age is the only game on the service I am interested in. If they make their back catalogue available and playable on the xb1 though then we have a deal. EA produced Dead Space and Alice: The Madness Returns which were 2 of my favourite games last gen.
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
Dragon Age Inquisition. Well I have only just scratched the surface of this massive game but it is really great so far. Easily the best in the series from what I have played. Here is a PIC of my first character, Camilla, the Human Mage (soon to be Necromancer).

DragonAgetrade_Inquisition_20141120222135_zpsfb61cfe6.jpg
 

Sception

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Sep 23, 2009
2,714
I have to say, after spending about 20 hours with it so far, that Origins is still my favorite. The controls in inquisition are simply not as good as origins, whether we're talking about the mouse and keyboard or the console controllers, though at least the PC version has controller support this time around. The leveling system is basically the one from 2, which again means far less customization than in origins. Combat also leans far more towards the second game, so again less tactical. Control over party member AI is stripped way down from previous games, which means you'll want to be handing out individual instructions more often on harder difficulties, but that's rendered frustrating by the poor 'tactical control mode', with its wonky controls, frustrating view, inability to queue multiple actions per party member, requirement to hold the trigger (while pointing the view at the enemy you want to target) to advance time, etc. You cannot simply select your target and rely on your character to attack them until you tell them otherwise, and targeting in general is fidgety and awkward. As is the healing/barrier/revival/potions system. As is the surprisingly low level cap (mid 20s soft cappd in single player, 20 hard cap in multiplayer - not that you should bother with that mess), which can leave you with half built characters on your first few plays..

As for the multiplayer - that's a tacked on multi-micro-payment cash grab nightmare avoid it at all costs.

The game's also somewhat buggy. I've had occasional issues with sound, dialog, animation, non-responsive allies, and the like. Hopefully those will get ironed out sooner rather than later, but unfortunately Bioware's (or more likely EA's) engine choice means fixes from the modding community are unlikely, and we can expect little to none of the value added by the community that made Skyrim (or the original dragon age, for that matter) so much more than anyone developer could have produced on their own. For instance, while I absolutely love the original dragon age, I can hardly imagine playing the original without a fixed version of the shapeshifting tree, or Ser Gilmore, or the like.

As for the appearance of the game - it's mostly pretty enough, but the hair is a nightmare. turn the static meshes to high, or all characters in the game will sport ridiculous high gloss plastic lego helmet hair. And even then, the facial hair always looks like a zero effort cut out badly photoshopped over your character's face.

On the up side, the supporting cast and dialog is great, as one would expect from Bioware, and the game world and scope are huge, in stark contrast to DAII. Unfortunately, I've been hearing some buzz that the ending of the game feels somewhat rushed and anticlimactic - yet another bioware game with a climax and resolution that fails to live up to rest of the game. That's becoming something of an unfortunate pattern.


None of which is to say I don't like the game. It's very good, but most of its positive qualities are described better elsewhere. I still very much enjoy the game, especially it's sheer size and scope. It is simply huge. But my favorite dragon age at the moment remains the original, largely for gameplay reasons, but in no small part because of the modding community that the original supported and allowed to enhance the value of their game, rather than fighting against in the interest of making a few extra bucks on weapon pack DLC. It's quite clear that Bioware/EA was looking at the juggernaut that Skyrim was and is when developing this game. It's a shame that they missed the memo on how important the modding community was to that ongoing success.
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
@Malisteen I agree with your criticisms on DA: I but I still think it is a great game. Massive amount of content and just fun to explore and play overall. Deeper customisation that extended beyond the face, and better hair would be appreciated though.

Currently playing Hearthstone, The Wolf Among Us(TWAU), and Magic The Gathering 2015.

Hearthstone is fun, borrows heavily from MTG and is basically a drastically simplified version, which has its pros and cons.

I am loving TWAU. Similar to Telltales other games (The Walking Dead anyone), and particularly interesting for me as I am a fan of the Fables comics.
 

Sanguinus

Ghoul
Nov 21, 2013
171
The leveling system is basically the one from 2, which again means far less customization than in origins.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Even DA2's wasn't as bad as Inquisition's. At least DA2 still allowed full control of attribute points. This weird thing they have going on where attribute points are tied to abilities/spells is all-new. BioWare seems to have developed this desire to reinvent the wheel, when, you know, if it ain't broke...

Combat also leans far more towards the second game, so again less tactical.
I've always found comments that state a game is less tactical just because it's more action-oriented to be odd. Now, I'm far from a fan of Inquisition, but it is by no means less tactical. The addition of active blocking and dodging, and more emphasis on directional attack (flanking, extra front protection, etc.), encouraged use of chokepoints, etc. lend it far more in the way of tactics than either DA2 or Origins.

Control over party member AI is stripped way down from previous games, which means you'll want to be handing out individual instructions more often on harder difficulties, but that's rendered frustrating by the poor 'tactical control mode', with its wonky controls, frustrating view, inability to queue multiple actions per party member, requirement to hold the trigger (while pointing the view at the enemy you want to target) to advance time, etc. You cannot simply select your target and rely on your character to attack them until you tell them otherwise, and targeting in general is fidgety and awkward.
Absolutely agree. The removal of "if X, then Y" behaviour is a baffling mistake, as is the removal of group selection (ie. selecting 2 or 3 characters instead of simply one or all).

As is the surprisingly low level cap (mid 20s soft cappd in single player, 20 hard cap in multiplayer - not that you should bother with that mess), which can leave you with half built characters on your first few plays..
How is that surprisingly low? Every DA game so far has had a soft cap of 20-25; Origins had a hard cap of 25 (increased to 35 in Awakening), granted DA2 had a hard cap of 50, but that was only achievable through a glitch. And pretty much every other BioWare RPG before it has had roughly the same soft cap (Baldur's Gate actually had barely half that). Unless one's only just leaving WoW and has never played a BioWare game, I just don't get how it's surprising or low. I was level 24 when I started the final encounter and ended at 25, and didn't feel like I had a half-built character. The only way I can see that happening is if you're spreading your points across all trees, in which case, you're simply doing it wrong.

As for the multiplayer - that's a tacked on multi-micro-payment cash grab nightmare avoid it at all costs.
There were reports that DA:I (DA3) would have multiplayer way back when they were still producing DLC for DA2, so hardly "tacked on". A horrendously buggy mess though, for sure.

Unfortunately, I've been hearing some buzz that the ending of the game feels somewhat rushed and anticlimactic - yet another bioware game with a climax and resolution that fails to live up to rest of the game. That's becoming something of an unfortunate pattern.
The final encounter suffers from the same problem as every RPG that has your hero save the world from total destruction: you spend the entire game building your character up to be a BAMF so they can lay the smack down on the Big Bad and...you do. However, there are some plot/lore reveals at the end, both before the final showdown, and after the credits, which are interesting to anyone who is invested in the lore of the series. And at this point, those are really the only people who are still playing DA games.
 

Danceman

The Devil in Pale Moonlight
True Blood
Aug 19, 2007
3,472
Glad I held out on getting DA:I, as well as DA2. Seems like they kept up the trend of removing everything that made DA:O great. The dumbing down of the interface/progression/party system is obviously something they did to make it playable on console. Won't support a company who deliberately makes the game worse to "appeal to a wider audience."

If they don't care about PC, then as a PC user, I won't care about them. As far as I am concerned, DA2-DA:I never happened, and I am still waiting for a proper sequel.
 

Get of W'soran

CN's Lord of Masks
True Blood
Apr 23, 2008
9,239
Behind the Throne
I loved Inquisition but its the first Dragon Age (even the first cross-platform rpg) I've ever bought on console rather than my gaming rig.

It is dumbed down in many ways but the story is very good, especially if you've played origins and 2.
I really think you're doing yourself a disservice in giving it a miss, maybe grab it on sale?

My friends still got it on PC and liked it. :)
 

Sanguinus

Ghoul
Nov 21, 2013
171
It is dumbed down in many ways but the story is very good, especially if you've played origins and 2.
I find this odd as I had the opposite reaction. I'd agree there are certain elements of gameplay that have been "dumbed down", like the removal of "If X, then Y" tactics, the inability to assign attribute points, the limited hotbar slots on PC, but they've added depth in others, like increased defense in the front arc and...okay, nope, they've removed far more than they've added.
As for the story, I found it to easily be the worst in the franchise thus far. It's the same tired "save the world from cataclysm" trope, with a protagonist who's literally a walking Plot Device-come-Mary Sue, made all the worse by the open-world nature completely destroying any sense of pacing.

I get the impression BioWare no longer have any idea of what they want DA to be, or rather that they're not unified in what they think it is. The setting wasn't exactly unique to begin with, drawing on other fantasy works (specifically Tolkien and G.R.R Martin), but it's becoming increasingly generic and watered down.

Okay, this post was rather negative. I don't think DA:I is a bad game per se - it's certainly better than most RPGs - I just think it's possibly the worst game BioWare has released so far.
 

Count michael

The Undead Sparky
May 17, 2010
813
Timaru
oh..... OH....... OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :happy: That Skaven one looks so amazing I must have it being first person could be interesting I wonder what the 5 classes are?????...... chees one looks interesting as well...... hooray more PS4 exclusives another game I'll add to my collection, I get my hands on the Order tomorrow so cant wait to try that as well as pre-ordering bloodborne


Also feel free to give me your PS name and Ill add you if anyone else got a PS4 I'm GHOSTKNIGHT_31 add me
 
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Get of W'soran

CN's Lord of Masks
True Blood
Apr 23, 2008
9,239
Behind the Throne
They all told me the gameplay was dull and story exceptionally short, literally 3-5 hours of gameplay with cutscenes longer than the levels.

One guy said "I've fought three bad guys so far. One human with a gun, one human with a baton and a lycan." I think that was from Neogaf.

Not sure how much is exaggeration but it sounds a lot like Ryse.

I don't want to sway anyones view though! If you're interested the big gaming forums have people talking about it, a lot of retailers seemed to have shipped early because quite a few people have the game already.

Personally I'll either rent it or grab it on a big sale a year down the line.
 

robtion

Vampire Thrall
Aug 23, 2011
989
Australia
@Count michael Yes the order and bloodbourne both look really cool. Don't let others dampen your enthusiasm give it a try and decide for yourself. Just take it back if you don't like it. My Ps4 and xb1 usernames are both robtion though I don't play online much. Add me if you like though ;)

@Get of W'soran Yep lots of mixed reviews for the order but that's usual for 'cinematic' games. Beyond: Two Souls had a similar breakdown of scores and I loved it. I think the orders graphics and atmosphere and hopefully the story could go a long way to endearing it to me.

Link: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/beyond-two-souls/critic-reviews

Link: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/the-order-1886/critic-reviews

In summary there are a lot of fanboys and haters out there (including 'professional' reviewers) so I would take what I hear on the web with a large helping of salt ;)
 

Count michael

The Undead Sparky
May 17, 2010
813
Timaru
The order is amazing:happy: I love it amazing story, cool weapons (I love the flame one) the graphics are quite decent as well especially with the cutscene. Each to to own opinion but I really think some people over hype the heck out of every game new game so they are immediately hate it. Seriously it has werewolves and the Knights of King Arthur what's not to like.
 

Get of W'soran

CN's Lord of Masks
True Blood
Apr 23, 2008
9,239
Behind the Throne
I tried the Order, whilst it might provide some short play fun the lack of gameplay and unappealing replay-ability just means I can't afford to dish out the money for it.

Oh to be richer! :) I'll borrow it of a friend in a few days when he's done :)
 

Sception

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Sep 23, 2009
2,714
I've been replaying birth by sleep on the kingdom hearts 2.5 bundle as part of an intended 'in universe chrono order lv1 (where allowed) playthrough of all the games in the series' (with possible exceptions of days and coded, as I'm not sure I can make it through those again).

BBS is definitely the right place to start such an endeavor, as the lv1 run through is by far the easiest in the series (not the easiest game, but the easiest to beat without leveling since access to leaf braces, second chance, and once more aren't level dependant), and while it has some of the classic kingdom hearts flaws (small, unpopulated worlds, button mashy gameplay, goofy narrative & dialog), it's easily the best of the sequels, and a healthy contender with the first game for best in the series. It's certainly the only KH sequel where the overall series plot was less ridiculous and needlessly convoluted after the game than before it. Sadly the 3ds game immediately undid much of that success, but whatever.

BBS is also one of the darkest games in the series, with all the heroes falling and evil more or less victorious. Definitely KH's 'Empire Strikes Back' moment. The tone is much more sombre as a result, and the ending is quite epic & dramatic. I'm really looking forward to experiencing it again. Plus, Leonard Nimoy really hams it up as the primary antagonist in the English dub, which is just too much fun.

Goofy and flawed as the series inarguably is, they're still some of my favorite games, and BBS in particular is tied for my favorite of them, and I haven't played the final mix of it before, so I'm having a ton of fun with it so far.
 

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