LurkerPrime
Member
Bingo. It's the only way to approach Bethesda games, if Skyrim has taught me anything at all.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
STEAM | January 2015 - Steam GOTY results: Delayed
- Thread starter MRORANGE
- Start date
- Status
Bingo. It's the only way to approach Bethesda games, if Skyrim has taught me anything at all.
Frecklestein
Banned
Maybe. It was my GOTY for 2014. Highly recommended, different ways to go about completing the game. Fantastic soundtrack. It's extremely unsettling, there's a ton of swearing, gore, violence and deals with some pretty hefty subject matters. And if you're homophobic, you'll probably have a hard time with the game, seeing as the world is made up of only men and so there are a lot of gay relationships, cross-dressing and man on man prostitution you can take part in or pay for. Anyway, just read the review : p
Buttonbasher
Member
I didn't know that XIII-2 and 3 had random encounters, and now I am profoundly bummed out. I've been having a blast with XIII, and was really looking forward to the rest of the series, but this really takes the wind out of my sails. Bummer. Muh.
I loathe random encounters. They've ruined it.
They are probably available as separate dlc purchases
BinaryPork2737
Unconfirmed Member
The only other way I'd be able to justify buying the next scrolls game, or the next Fallout game, before the Complete/Legendary/GOTY/etc. edition is out is if it had a season pass. And it would have to be a relatively low price before I'd buy it.
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Awesome! I'm glad someone in this community has played it. Thanks for the review. GOTY of 2014, huh? Really? That's pretty bold. I thought my pick of Alien Isolation was controversial, ha!
Frecklestein
Banned
It kinda came out of nowhere for me. It was the last game of 2014 that I decided to play and it just really resonated with me. I even went out of my way to get the level 5 badge for it as well.
Nice deal. Thanks.
Buttonbasher
Member
I'm just so picky when it comes to JRPG's, because I started with Earthbound, and then moved on to Chrono Trigger, neither of which have random battles. I much prefer that system, because it doesn't feel like a random number generator deciding when it will get in your way. It's why I've never been able to get into Final Fantasy before XIII. Random encounters just impede exploration, and feel cheap.
It's just a bummer that so few games feature visible enemies. XIII really hit a sweet spot, that I was looking forward to continuing through the other two games. I'll still probably play them at some point, but it's just deflated my excitement almost completely.
trailmix16
Member
Game 5 (1 point) : NEO Scavenger
Game 4 (2 points) : Transistor
Game 3 (3 points) : Hatoful Boyfriend
Game 2 (4 points) : Shovel Knight
Game 1 (5 points) : Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Game 4 (2 points) : Transistor
Game 3 (3 points) : Hatoful Boyfriend
Game 2 (4 points) : Shovel Knight
Game 1 (5 points) : Shadowrun: Dragonfall
in every location how the encounters work is you walk around, the screen flashes and enemies appear on the screen a few yards from you, if you strike first you get a bonus for pre-emptive strike, you can also run from them sometimes too..
dont know what punished snack is talking about, it's not random like old school FF games or dragon quest games.
edit: the scene he is talking about the monsters are always on the map charging at you, and they are more of a nuisance than anything...
Buttonbasher
Member
That sounds doable. To be fair, I probably read into it a bit too much, assuming it was the old system (which I super dislike). I'll give it a shot before worrying about it too much more. Thanks for the info!
It almost gets to that in the stupid Academia night level to be fair.
Fuck that place. Between that and the other Academia bit in the story where you fetch x number of y from all over the world. They made me HATE Academia, and it was the best thing about the game...FiveElementNinja
Member
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I haven't played much of XIII-2 yet (like - an hour?) but I finished XIII a few days ago and liked the encounter system quite a bit. XIII-2 essentially has the same system, as far as I can tell, with the caveat that you can't see the enemies on the map before they "pop up". Once they "pop up", you can choose to fight them or run away.
XIII was great in the sense that you could kind of strategically decide which path you would take to encounter which enemies. This one has a more random feel to it, but as best I can tell the enemies still always pop up in the same spots each time. This makes it random at first but after revisiting a certain area you kinda sorta know what enemies are going to attack in which locations.
While it's not as good as XIII was, in my opinion it's alright. Of course I love the older Final Fantasy games and Dragon Quest games so I'm used to games with random encounters.
It almost gets to that in the stupid Academia night level to be fair.
yeah that's the scene he was talking about, but those monsters are so piss easy that it's there just mainly as a nuisance and for the illusion of panic (since like alarms are going off and crap)
Dragon1893
Member
Uh, not really. Enemies spawn randomly but they are visible and you just have to get away from them before the time runs out to avoid the fight. It's completely different.
And backtracking in XIII?! Wut?
The ost in both games is fantastic.
As for asset recycling, it's true for the monsters but not so much for the environments. There are several completely new locations and most of the places you do revisit have different layouts, they aren't the exact same places you visited in XIII, though there are some exceptions. It's a big improvement over X-2 which was pretty much a copy/paste of the entire game.
It's a valid complaint though.
But seriously, you don't like any of the music? This game has some amazing tunes.
Well, that depends on whether you've levelled or not(I did very little if any side stuff). They weren't hard, or anything for me, but they were 'tanky'. Making it an absolute chore to explore that place. It was just terrible design.
it's still a chore when you are leveled also, because of how the map is laid out (and I think they even block off some paths in that time period) probably the worst part of the game IMO*
*not counting grinding the slot machines in the casino
Buttonbasher
Member
Yeah, I guess my biggest qualm with random encounters is rooted in frustration when you're just trying to get from point A to B, and are constantly interrupted with battles you can't anticipate. It can make general movement around the world arduous, and really discourage exploration.
That said, I haven't found myself deliberately avoiding many battles in XIII (thus far, in Chapter 7 anyway), and really enjoy the battle system. That probably makes some difference. The pop-up system at least sounds like it splits some of the difference.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
My bad then. Like I said I haven't played much but in the first area with monsters that was my experience.
someguyinahat
Member
I've only put in a little more than an hour, so take this for what you will, but thanks to FreshVeggie I was given Bionic Commando so here are some quick impressions:
Is "porty" an adjective? Because it would be a good way to describe Bionic Commando. The splash screens include a nice big "nVidia" logo, so I was ready to see what my new 750Ti can do, but imagine my surprise going into the video options to find the only options are resolution and gamma. But you know what, okay, I can let that slide, I'm sure nVidia knows what it's doing, and the graphics look alright as is. I get through the tutorial realizing all the prompts are for the Xbox controller and there's no way to get keyboard prompts. I spend several minutes going back and forth in the options screen figuring out what my controls actually are. "Okay, right trigger is mouse 0 and left trigger is mouse 1. Got it: RT is left click and LT is right click." The controls get some getting used to even after I know what they are, but I of course chalk that up to being bad at video games.
Get to the first outdoor area where you do a lot of free-roam swinging. Hey! This feels kinda fun, and it's more intuitive than the tutorial! Neat! It's like Spiderman, if he was a soldier with dreadlocks! ...Ugh, FUCK this collectible! I keep missing it by a few pixels! Okay, someguyinahat, you can do this. (Spend WAY too long trying.) YES! Finally! It's done! Now on with the game. (Promptly miss a jump and die in an irradiated pit.) No biggie, I got all the challenges and collectibles out of the way so now I can...just...
oh no.
No no no. NO.
It didn't save my challenges and collectibles? I have to do them all OVER again? It only autosaves when you enter a new zone and there's no manual saving? I...I don't think I can handle this. I may just have to change my thinking on collectibles in this game and just go through without trying for them to save my sanity.
The verdict: I bet this would be a lot of fun if I used a controller, and it was probably a good game on the 360. But key prompts are like the first thing you'd change in a port, right? ...Right? And the lack of saving is gonna kill me as an obsessive saver, especially when every game I've ever played lets you keep challenges and collectibles after you die. Maybe that's why it doesn't have Steam achievements: cause the way it's set up, they'd be impossible to track. So my verdict is: if you can find it on sale AND you have a 360 controller, you'll probably enjoy this game. If you're m/kb, expect frustration.
Is "porty" an adjective? Because it would be a good way to describe Bionic Commando. The splash screens include a nice big "nVidia" logo, so I was ready to see what my new 750Ti can do, but imagine my surprise going into the video options to find the only options are resolution and gamma. But you know what, okay, I can let that slide, I'm sure nVidia knows what it's doing, and the graphics look alright as is. I get through the tutorial realizing all the prompts are for the Xbox controller and there's no way to get keyboard prompts. I spend several minutes going back and forth in the options screen figuring out what my controls actually are. "Okay, right trigger is mouse 0 and left trigger is mouse 1. Got it: RT is left click and LT is right click." The controls get some getting used to even after I know what they are, but I of course chalk that up to being bad at video games.
Get to the first outdoor area where you do a lot of free-roam swinging. Hey! This feels kinda fun, and it's more intuitive than the tutorial! Neat! It's like Spiderman, if he was a soldier with dreadlocks! ...Ugh, FUCK this collectible! I keep missing it by a few pixels! Okay, someguyinahat, you can do this. (Spend WAY too long trying.) YES! Finally! It's done! Now on with the game. (Promptly miss a jump and die in an irradiated pit.) No biggie, I got all the challenges and collectibles out of the way so now I can...just...
oh no.
No no no. NO.
It didn't save my challenges and collectibles? I have to do them all OVER again? It only autosaves when you enter a new zone and there's no manual saving? I...I don't think I can handle this. I may just have to change my thinking on collectibles in this game and just go through without trying for them to save my sanity.
The verdict: I bet this would be a lot of fun if I used a controller, and it was probably a good game on the 360. But key prompts are like the first thing you'd change in a port, right? ...Right? And the lack of saving is gonna kill me as an obsessive saver, especially when every game I've ever played lets you keep challenges and collectibles after you die. Maybe that's why it doesn't have Steam achievements: cause the way it's set up, they'd be impossible to track. So my verdict is: if you can find it on sale AND you have a 360 controller, you'll probably enjoy this game. If you're m/kb, expect frustration.
ModBot said:Instructions for participants:
I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below containing the game you want to enter for. Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.
ModBot Basics:
- This giveaway has a manual blocklist. The giver has identified members who abuse giveaways and restricted them from participating.
- I really appreciate thank you messages, but please send them to me (Lain, not ModBot!) via PM instead of in thread.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.
Rules for this Giveaway:
- Pay it forward. You can only win this game if you've given away a game since you last won a game (minimum one total giveaway).
- This giveaway is a raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 3 hours after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.
Carpe Fulgur Collection --
MB-B2DCF3DFDC7B4DDE- Taken by bigzgod. 26 entrants total.
For those that resisted buying the collection, missing some great games. You have one last chance.
Gran Pulse is hardly what I call 'backtracking'. You're in a massive area which you just explore through. At the final chapter it even gives you a portal to go back to Gran Pulse without having to run back through the Chapter 12 area. If anything peoples complaint about XIII was you couldn't really back track, unlike say X where you can go all the way back to Besaid(Beneficial to do so if you want Aurons sphere without killing Dark Valefor).
Locations in XIII-2 is another thing entirely, and it's part of the reason I really don't think XIII-2 is better than XIII at all.
Jawmuncher
Member
Bionic Commando is one of my favorites games from last gen and I got the platinum for it on PS3. Such an under appreciated title by Grin who were taken from us far too soon.
Bought the game awhile back but haven't replayed it yet. Though when I played I can't imagine playing it with M&KB. Swinging is so much fun though when you nail it down. Puts the spider man games to shame.
Bought the game awhile back but haven't replayed it yet. Though when I played I can't imagine playing it with M&KB. Swinging is so much fun though when you nail it down. Puts the spider man games to shame.
I've spent the last two hours reading through Digital: A Love Story
Lovely, well written and just so, so sweet prequel to Analogue: A Hate Story
Highly recommended if you're cruising for a short VN to see what all the fuss is about.
(No waifus inside as well, unless you count BBS login pictures)
Thinking of dropping Breath of Fire... Game is just so slow, with random fights (boring random fights to boot) literally after two, three steps.
Maybe I should stick to newer JRPGs - they don't seem to waste your time as much as the old Dragon Quest clones.
I hear Breath of Fire 2 is better, anyone played that?
Lovely, well written and just so, so sweet prequel to Analogue: A Hate Story
Highly recommended if you're cruising for a short VN to see what all the fuss is about.
(No waifus inside as well, unless you count BBS login pictures)
Thinking of dropping Breath of Fire... Game is just so slow, with random fights (boring random fights to boot) literally after two, three steps.
Maybe I should stick to newer JRPGs - they don't seem to waste your time as much as the old Dragon Quest clones.
I hear Breath of Fire 2 is better, anyone played that?
Most likely they'll be sold again but there have been some games that don't sell the pre-order bonuses, as an incentive to pre-order. For example, I don't believe the pre-order bonuses for NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM Revolution were available for sale.
I'm not really sure I'd call that backtracking though. I platted it myself(I shouldn't have, I regret my time farming the Adamantortoises). I distinctly remember the early missions were actually pretty well done if you follow them numerically, they push you towards Yaschas Massif(Think that's it's name?), and then you can just follow the missions through that area.
The only area which is questionable is Oerba, because of the map design, and there being one or two encounters which are harder to avoid. But there isn't that many missions in it.
If anything my complaint is lack of variety in terms of the missions. The earlier ones are alright because you're still new to the system, and the last couple are decent because they're a bit more challenging. The rest they're just more of the same fights you've been doing throughout the game.
Kaleinc
Banned
Oh my, it was plain bad and mediocre, on the other hand Rearmed is the real deal - the only game Grin got right.
CarbonatedFalcon
Member
I don't know if it's just me, but The Witcher is janky as fuck. Super stiff animations, and the combat so far, just...
I'm like 5 minutes in.
I'm like 5 minutes in.
You will get used to it
After 15-16 hours i liked combat in W1 even though i still think it is annoying and bad I don't get how some people list some hour long story DLC as its own game, or 5 episodes of the walking dead as 5 games.... :/
someguyinahat
Member
More like mid-page post for us 100ppppeople.
PetriP-TNT
Member
I am in the same boat man. I have almost played 4 hours this year too
NihonTiger90
Member
I think that Bundlestars Pioneer Bundle is too good to pass up. Nabbing after work.
Henry Swanson
Member
.ModBot said:Instructions for participants:
I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below containing the game you want to enter for. Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.
ModBot Basics:
- I really appreciate thank you messages, but please send them to me (Henry Swanson, not ModBot!) via PM instead of in thread.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.
Power-Up --MB-87A617FBAEB771E7- Taken by illusionary
Well, a game is a game - many of older arcade titles were doable in 20-40 minutes.
To each his own I guess.
You do what you gotta do but I am in agreement with you.
Nabs
Member
Having full control of your swings with the mouse just feels much better. It's a shame they shut off the multiplayer, I can't imagine it taking much to run.
I played through it and liked it way back when, but I can't imagine all of it holds up well.
I've finished only one game so far, and I was already half done with it when the year changed.
Kurt Russell
Member
Spares
ModBot said:Instructions for Kurt Russell:
Press the quote button to the left of this PM, select the quoted text, copy, and paste in the thread. You can remove these lines from the version you paste.
Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 8 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below that corresponds to the game you want. (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering). Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.
ModBot Basics:
- No need to thank me. Please don't post thank you messages in thread or in PM.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.
Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker you are not eligible for this giveaway. You need five or more posts in either the current Steam thread or the previous one to be eligible
Memories of a Vagabond --MB-579D6B799FB6A3B3- Taken by Speevy
Claustrophobia: The Downward Struggle --MB-53241ACB074C32F1- Taken by Ryne
Racer 8 --MB-CE508D3A3CD76864- Taken by NihonTiger90
Frozen Hearth -- MB-5F3DA47844A1960C
Ionball 2: Ionstorm -- MB-E6E39516F17F6F07
Realms Of The Haunting --MB-DDA384CA43EE1DCC- Taken by Dusk Golem
Chaos Domain -- MB-006A628819ACEC1D
Dead Bits -- MB-3C50855B2B91F23C
AHA-Lambda
Member
Just finished The Evil Within, damn good game, damn hard game too!
Too late to change my GOTY vote? =/
Too late to change my GOTY vote? =/
eh if a game only lasts an hour or so fine... it's a game. I don't think "additional content" should be counted as a game, it's like counting the addendum of a book as its own novel, IMO.. same w/ saying 5 chapters of an episodic game isn't just all the same game.. Do people count each individual chapter in a book as a separate book?
to each his own tho like Knurek said
I also plan on playing smaller games for that challenge, I've got some games on Virtual Console I want to play like Legend of the Mystical Ninja
edit: omg i need that skull kid figure in the mm 3ds LE
to each his own tho like Knurek said
I also plan on playing smaller games for that challenge, I've got some games on Virtual Console I want to play like Legend of the Mystical Ninja
edit: omg i need that skull kid figure in the mm 3ds LE
Dragon1893
Member
The animation is the game's biggest weakness from a technical/visual perspective (that and the endless npc recycling).
Combat is an aquired taste but give it a fair shot.
Game is worth it because of the atmosphere, story/lore and the fantastic music.
- Status