Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
I have had this experience in most RPGs I have played too. Still, I liked the Witcher III. No game has ever topped GTAV for me, though.
Now Playing (Video Games)
- Thread starter Onhell
- Start date
My chief complaint about GTA V is that it wasn't long enough. I could have done 2-3 more heists in the game. But man, is it a lot of fun.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Great game, tho it gets a bit tedious at the end. If it's your first play do yourself a favour and google the spells. There's an easy to do spell that can act as a ranged weapon.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Witcher III update. I started playing it on Jun 29th so pretty much a month in I am DONE with the main storyline and DONE with the first expansion Hearts of Stone as of this morning. Started the Blood and Wine Expansion so I might have another week or two ahead of me.
Some thoughts. Absolutely love the story and execution of said story. Hearts of Stone was a basic expansion, one extra mission and it was fairly involved, the ending was tense, the Master of Mirrors kept me on my toes.
Speaking of the story though... Being an open world game you can, provided you are at the proper level, do EVERYTHING prior to finishing the main storyline. That means tackle all missions including the expansions and then go back and finish the main story. I'm used to expansions being more like sequels, like Diablo II: Lord of Terror or Starcraft: Brood Wars. Well, continuations is a better way of putting it. Because of that, I did the main story first, then Hearts of Stone and I will now tackle Blood and Wine. The problem with that is you get a similar effect as with Fallout 3.
Fallout 3 had a VERY definite ending which was thrown out with the expansions. We got a huge, "Oh, nevermind!" This was similar. I got a feel good ending where Ciri becomes a Witcher, while Geralt and Yen retire to the mountains to live happily ever after... EXCEPT there is still shit to do! So.... fuck your happy ending of retirement with the love of your life. Had I known I would have done everything prior to finishing the main story. It also makes things awkward when Shani shows up and you can have sexy fun time with her at a wedding party. So.... Yen ok with it still up in the mountains? LOL
Speaking of Fallout 3. This game, along with Bioshock, Tomb Raider and countless others get critized for having a compass/objective arrow telling you where to go. The people I see complain about this the most on the intrawebs are "hardcore" nerds who want to go on "an adventure" like if they were a fucking hobbit. They praise the original Legend of Zelda for "not holding your hand." Well, you know what? Burning every bush and bombing every square inch, never mind the grinding for rupees to buy bombs to do that just to find a few extra secrets isn't my idea of "fun." They also complain that people spend more time looking at that arrow than at the "pretty" game the devs created. Now, most of these games give you option to turn that arrow/compass off, so have at it. Not to mention the infinite numbers of mods for PC versions. The reason I bring this up is that in these games that compass or arrow is either top center or bottom center of the screen. Guess what, I can see the arrow AND the pretty world at the same time, it's called peripheral vision.
HOWEVER, what does The Witcher do? Put a minimap on the top right corner.... close enough to notice, far away enough to actually have to divert my eyes to see it. And yeah, spent considerable amount of time looking at the minimap rather than the acutal world. Not the best design decision, but not game breaking, thankfully.
At the moment I'm cleaning out the Skellige map of all the remaining question marks before moving on to Blood and Wine in full.
Some thoughts. Absolutely love the story and execution of said story. Hearts of Stone was a basic expansion, one extra mission and it was fairly involved, the ending was tense, the Master of Mirrors kept me on my toes.
Speaking of the story though... Being an open world game you can, provided you are at the proper level, do EVERYTHING prior to finishing the main storyline. That means tackle all missions including the expansions and then go back and finish the main story. I'm used to expansions being more like sequels, like Diablo II: Lord of Terror or Starcraft: Brood Wars. Well, continuations is a better way of putting it. Because of that, I did the main story first, then Hearts of Stone and I will now tackle Blood and Wine. The problem with that is you get a similar effect as with Fallout 3.
Fallout 3 had a VERY definite ending which was thrown out with the expansions. We got a huge, "Oh, nevermind!" This was similar. I got a feel good ending where Ciri becomes a Witcher, while Geralt and Yen retire to the mountains to live happily ever after... EXCEPT there is still shit to do! So.... fuck your happy ending of retirement with the love of your life. Had I known I would have done everything prior to finishing the main story. It also makes things awkward when Shani shows up and you can have sexy fun time with her at a wedding party. So.... Yen ok with it still up in the mountains? LOL
Speaking of Fallout 3. This game, along with Bioshock, Tomb Raider and countless others get critized for having a compass/objective arrow telling you where to go. The people I see complain about this the most on the intrawebs are "hardcore" nerds who want to go on "an adventure" like if they were a fucking hobbit. They praise the original Legend of Zelda for "not holding your hand." Well, you know what? Burning every bush and bombing every square inch, never mind the grinding for rupees to buy bombs to do that just to find a few extra secrets isn't my idea of "fun." They also complain that people spend more time looking at that arrow than at the "pretty" game the devs created. Now, most of these games give you option to turn that arrow/compass off, so have at it. Not to mention the infinite numbers of mods for PC versions. The reason I bring this up is that in these games that compass or arrow is either top center or bottom center of the screen. Guess what, I can see the arrow AND the pretty world at the same time, it's called peripheral vision.
HOWEVER, what does The Witcher do? Put a minimap on the top right corner.... close enough to notice, far away enough to actually have to divert my eyes to see it. And yeah, spent considerable amount of time looking at the minimap rather than the acutal world. Not the best design decision, but not game breaking, thankfully.
At the moment I'm cleaning out the Skellige map of all the remaining question marks before moving on to Blood and Wine in full.
Jer
'Til Tomorrow
So the PS4 to PS5 transition has been mostly painless. There are only about 10 PS4 games that won’t run on the PS5 and I don’t have any of them. I was able to transfer all my account, game, and save data over the network to the PS5 over the span of about an hour.
I had already gotten the Playstation camera dongle, so migrating the PSVR went smoothly too, though I had to recalibrate all the lights and eye distance and everything on the new system, as well as re-pairing the old Move controllers and DualShock 4s to the PS5. I guess the PSVR box won’t pass through HDR or 4K/60 and higher resolutions, but I’m still using this on an old 52” TV from 8-9’ away, so 4K wouldn’t have given me any visible benefit, and I’d rather have a framerate boost anyway. Must be pretty annoying for graphics whores with PS5s and PSVR, though — they probably have to swap HDMI cables back and forth when they want to use the VR system.
Tried out RDR2 and the loading times were significantly better, but not life-changingly so. Initial loading still ran through about 8 photos. Didn’t notice any obvious graphical performance improvement over my base PS4 in that game, but I also didn’t spend much time with it. Tried out Falcon Age to test the PSVR and had a similar experience there. I assume developers will start pushing more patches to take advantage of the hardware, especially for things like RDR2 where the online component is going to be a cash cow for them for years to come.
Spent a little time with Astro’s Playroom, and I will say that the force feedback on the DualSense’s L2/R2 triggers are a nice feature, and the haptic feedback through the controller surface is pretty impressive. It really does feel like a next-generation advancement of vibration tech with the fine directional control and the approximation of different “textures” of rumble.
The box itself is pretty gigantic, but will fit in a standard AV shelving system in its horizontal orientation. Kind of weird that you have to use the stand when it’s horizontal, but it does allow you to swivel the console to get at the rear ports easily, which is nice. Only 3 USB ports, though, and the two rear ones are used up by PSVR connections and the front one is currently being used for controller charging (yes, the DualSense uses a different connector from the DualShock 4 for some reason).
No themes or control of the background on the home screen yet, as far as I can tell. And no ability to folderize your installed games, which royally sucks (I like to at least keep all the VR stuff in its own folder), though you can do some basic filtering and sorting from the game library screen. I’m sure they’ll add this stuff back in over time, though.
Also, no Paramount+ app for PS5 yet, and it won’t let you run the PS4 one on it either. Really?
Oh yeah, if you’re concerned at all about privacy, the mic on the DualSense is on by default at boot time, but you can change the default to mute in the settings. There’s also a mute button and clear mute indicator on the controller itself, so at least you can tell when it’s listening.
So, thumbs up so far, with a few little annoyances.
I had already gotten the Playstation camera dongle, so migrating the PSVR went smoothly too, though I had to recalibrate all the lights and eye distance and everything on the new system, as well as re-pairing the old Move controllers and DualShock 4s to the PS5. I guess the PSVR box won’t pass through HDR or 4K/60 and higher resolutions, but I’m still using this on an old 52” TV from 8-9’ away, so 4K wouldn’t have given me any visible benefit, and I’d rather have a framerate boost anyway. Must be pretty annoying for graphics whores with PS5s and PSVR, though — they probably have to swap HDMI cables back and forth when they want to use the VR system.
Tried out RDR2 and the loading times were significantly better, but not life-changingly so. Initial loading still ran through about 8 photos. Didn’t notice any obvious graphical performance improvement over my base PS4 in that game, but I also didn’t spend much time with it. Tried out Falcon Age to test the PSVR and had a similar experience there. I assume developers will start pushing more patches to take advantage of the hardware, especially for things like RDR2 where the online component is going to be a cash cow for them for years to come.
Spent a little time with Astro’s Playroom, and I will say that the force feedback on the DualSense’s L2/R2 triggers are a nice feature, and the haptic feedback through the controller surface is pretty impressive. It really does feel like a next-generation advancement of vibration tech with the fine directional control and the approximation of different “textures” of rumble.
The box itself is pretty gigantic, but will fit in a standard AV shelving system in its horizontal orientation. Kind of weird that you have to use the stand when it’s horizontal, but it does allow you to swivel the console to get at the rear ports easily, which is nice. Only 3 USB ports, though, and the two rear ones are used up by PSVR connections and the front one is currently being used for controller charging (yes, the DualSense uses a different connector from the DualShock 4 for some reason).
No themes or control of the background on the home screen yet, as far as I can tell. And no ability to folderize your installed games, which royally sucks (I like to at least keep all the VR stuff in its own folder), though you can do some basic filtering and sorting from the game library screen. I’m sure they’ll add this stuff back in over time, though.
Also, no Paramount+ app for PS5 yet, and it won’t let you run the PS4 one on it either. Really?
Oh yeah, if you’re concerned at all about privacy, the mic on the DualSense is on by default at boot time, but you can change the default to mute in the settings. There’s also a mute button and clear mute indicator on the controller itself, so at least you can tell when it’s listening.
So, thumbs up so far, with a few little annoyances.
cristianomtd
Prowler
Playing Resident Evil 3 with an Iron Maiden t-shirt =D
Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
I'm at that point now, the upside-down castle was getting pretty frustrating when all the room entrances/exits were out of reach and I had to keep switching to the slow-arse bat in order to get around. I've found the room that leads me to Shaft and Dracula but I've got a little exploring left to do first.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Yeah I thought that castle reversal is a bit lame.
Also I hope that Metroid 5 gets good enough to kick Konami into releasing new Castlevanias. The game costs like Battlefield 2042.
That should be normal - when I plug DS4 in the computer I get a gamepad HID, mouse HID and a playback USB audio devices. These are not gamepad features, they're different devices in the same package running over the same USB cable in composite mode - of course they'll all be on as soon as you plug them in.
Also I hope that Metroid 5 gets good enough to kick Konami into releasing new Castlevanias. The game costs like Battlefield 2042.
That should be normal - when I plug DS4 in the computer I get a gamepad HID, mouse HID and a playback USB audio devices. These are not gamepad features, they're different devices in the same package running over the same USB cable in composite mode - of course they'll all be on as soon as you plug them in.
Edington
Last Son of The Miracle
A new proper Castlevania would be pretty sweet. I'm surprised the success of the Netflix series didn't spur them on, or the success of the Castlevania-in-all-but-name Bloodstained games. The last few Castlevania games I can remember are Judgement (an apparently terrible fighting game) and the 3D Lords of Shadow series, the first of which I really liked, but those were around the late 2000s - early 2010s.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Not a lore guy...I didn't follow Castlevania closely until hooking on Super Metroid and the whole genre.
Also the genre is a bit wonky. As any 90s kid I was fond of first person shooters (3D shooter as we used to call it). All these games, from Wolf3D to Quake to UT they all had a similar feel. That is the same genre. The basic perspective, for me, does not make the genre. You have millions of turn based games over a hex map, none of those are Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Just like you have things like Borderlands, which may be first person 3D perspective but the game is just a different universe compared to classic FPS, due to the feel of the graphics and play and effects and stuff.
Ori, Guacamelee, and so on...great games, but not comparable to Metroid/Castlevania. Them being open world 2D games does not make them that similar, in my book. So before we get successors to main titles the genre is a bit screwed. I don't consider rouge alikes to be this (A Robot named Fight, looking at you...great graphics great feel, can't save game ffs)
Also the genre is a bit wonky. As any 90s kid I was fond of first person shooters (3D shooter as we used to call it). All these games, from Wolf3D to Quake to UT they all had a similar feel. That is the same genre. The basic perspective, for me, does not make the genre. You have millions of turn based games over a hex map, none of those are Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Just like you have things like Borderlands, which may be first person 3D perspective but the game is just a different universe compared to classic FPS, due to the feel of the graphics and play and effects and stuff.
Ori, Guacamelee, and so on...great games, but not comparable to Metroid/Castlevania. Them being open world 2D games does not make them that similar, in my book. So before we get successors to main titles the genre is a bit screwed. I don't consider rouge alikes to be this (A Robot named Fight, looking at you...great graphics great feel, can't save game ffs)
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
So I finally finished The Witcher III. I feel.... exhausted, in a good way. I finished the game and the only thing I could think of was, ok, let's play it again to do an achievement sweep. Then I thought of the last month and a half I spent on the game and decided against it. But I also don't feel like playing anything else at the moment. well... no traditional game that involves a moderate amount of work and direct input.
Before I finished The Witcher, I noticed Tales from the Borderlands from the Telltale peeps was on sale once again. I had played the game 5 years ago. Like all these episodic games the first chapter is free to get you hooked and they sell you the rest. At the time I was like, fuck that, I ain't paying for more. Then a few months ago the whole game was available for free download, so I reinstall it and it said that episodes 2-5 were "not available" ata this time. Uninstall it. seeing that it was on sale again I reinstall it and viola! All remaining episodes available, for free. So I watched (can't really say played) the rest. I was pleasantly surprised, I enjoyed the story and the characters. Also made me realize how little interest I have in Borderlands 3 and noticed the lack of hype around the game since its release. I think I'll focus on the Borderlands 2 DLCs I never got around to in my original playthrough as well as Fallout 3 DLC content.
So since I don't feel like playing anything I decided to give Tell Me Why a watch as well. I think it's by the same folks from Life is Strange, but unlike Life is Strange vague LGBTQ+-#$% elements, Tell Me Why is specifically about a trans young man. You play a set of twins who, and I did cringe at this, share telepathic thoughts, cuz you know TWIN STEREOTYPES. But whatever, all these games have ridiculous shit happen to their characters. LiS 1 you manipulate time, in 2 your little bro is basically Anakin Skywalker and in this one.... telepathic thoughts and shared ghost memories. Video Game BS aside, like LiS 1 &2, the strength here is the storytelling and it is quite good. I'm enjoying it. I downloaded the whole game (I think, 3 episodes worth) for free during pride month. Played episode 1 last night and the cliff hanger left me wanting to keep playing, then I realized it was very late and went to bed instead.
Before I finished The Witcher, I noticed Tales from the Borderlands from the Telltale peeps was on sale once again. I had played the game 5 years ago. Like all these episodic games the first chapter is free to get you hooked and they sell you the rest. At the time I was like, fuck that, I ain't paying for more. Then a few months ago the whole game was available for free download, so I reinstall it and it said that episodes 2-5 were "not available" ata this time. Uninstall it. seeing that it was on sale again I reinstall it and viola! All remaining episodes available, for free. So I watched (can't really say played) the rest. I was pleasantly surprised, I enjoyed the story and the characters. Also made me realize how little interest I have in Borderlands 3 and noticed the lack of hype around the game since its release. I think I'll focus on the Borderlands 2 DLCs I never got around to in my original playthrough as well as Fallout 3 DLC content.
So since I don't feel like playing anything I decided to give Tell Me Why a watch as well. I think it's by the same folks from Life is Strange, but unlike Life is Strange vague LGBTQ+-#$% elements, Tell Me Why is specifically about a trans young man. You play a set of twins who, and I did cringe at this, share telepathic thoughts, cuz you know TWIN STEREOTYPES. But whatever, all these games have ridiculous shit happen to their characters. LiS 1 you manipulate time, in 2 your little bro is basically Anakin Skywalker and in this one.... telepathic thoughts and shared ghost memories. Video Game BS aside, like LiS 1 &2, the strength here is the storytelling and it is quite good. I'm enjoying it. I downloaded the whole game (I think, 3 episodes worth) for free during pride month. Played episode 1 last night and the cliff hanger left me wanting to keep playing, then I realized it was very late and went to bed instead.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
So I was watching a bio-vid on youtube about L. Ron Hubbard and I was struck by something.... To avoid government involvement he put his followers on cruise ships and sailed the seas for several years. I also watched one on Disneyworld and Disney's original vision for the park being a city, well utopia, he had full control over. Then I remembered Bioshock. Many criticisms it gets is the whole, "Oh, who the fuck builds a city under water?" Or "Who the fuck builds a city in the sky?" Well.... who the fuck puts his brainwashed followers on cruise ships or who wants to build a utopian city where he has full control of EVERYTHING? So, yeah, not so far-fetched after all.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Anyone experiencing fatigue with first person genre? Real, physical fatigue at looking and playing the games.
I might be more on the 'fantasy side' with UT being my top dog, tactical or semi tactical shooters are fun and everything (CoD multiplayer
), but these fantasy shooters like Doom Quake UT etc. are a lot faster in movements, maybe that's what's doing it for me. I just get tired and a bit nauseated after half an hour.
I might be more on the 'fantasy side' with UT being my top dog, tactical or semi tactical shooters are fun and everything (CoD multiplayer
), but these fantasy shooters like Doom Quake UT etc. are a lot faster in movements, maybe that's what's doing it for me. I just get tired and a bit nauseated after half an hour.
Question for gamers:
What are the best open world games available for PS4 in the past... decade probably
I'd prefer if they weren't fantasy/medieval.
Not counting GTA games obviously, and Just Cause.
That's my favorite genre apart from FIFA and NBA games.
What are the best open world games available for PS4 in the past... decade probably
I'd prefer if they weren't fantasy/medieval.Not counting GTA games obviously, and Just Cause.
That's my favorite genre apart from FIFA and NBA games.
Jer
'Til Tomorrow
If I have to skip GTA and Just Cause, here are a few non-medieval ones that went down well for me:
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Metal Gear Solid V: Definitive Edition
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
I have a complicated relationship with Red Dead Redemption II, but if you don’t mind the slow pace and can get used to its quirks, many people think it’s a great game. It does have a very impressive open world.
No Man’s Sky has apparently been expanded a ton since its infamous launch and is supposed to be pretty good now, but I can’t speak from experience.
Marvel’s Spider-Man also got great reviews, though I haven’t gotten around to playing it yet.
Jer
'Til Tomorrow
Y’know, maybe I’ve finally turned the corner with Red Dead Redemption II. The reduced loading times after moving to the PS5 definitely helped, and I finally feel like I’ve gotten into more of a groove with the game. I’m not bothering with any hunting, or other long-engagement activities that will make me have to worry about stupid cores and losing things I’ve earned, but I’m still doing all the side missions, at least for now.
I still wish I could go lose myself in the open world, exploring and hunting without having to worry about food and rest and all this other cowboy simulator stuff; but if I hold myself back to 1 or 2 missions and then return to camp to sleep for the night, that sidesteps most of the annoying maintenance concerns.
I still wish I could go lose myself in the open world, exploring and hunting without having to worry about food and rest and all this other cowboy simulator stuff; but if I hold myself back to 1 or 2 missions and then return to camp to sleep for the night, that sidesteps most of the annoying maintenance concerns.
BlackCountryBushido
Prowler
Do you have kids? Do you have a Nintendo Switch? Then I can't recommend Labyrinth City enough. It looks like Wheres Wally (or Waldo to any 'mericans here) and you go around mazes chasing after the elusive Mr X. But the real fun is in interacting with the various people and scenery in the maps. I've spent a couple of hours on it already and I'm only up to the third level. There's a fair amount of replay-ability since there are collectable items in each map to find. But yeah, if you have kids and need a game to keep them busy for a while you should pick it up. It's only $12 too!
