Gamers Thread

[EternalMetal]

Ive recently been getting into more of the Final Fantasy games (only ever played VI). IX just came out on Steam last week, so it isnt surprising that you havent heard about it. I only saw it because I was trying to see which one I was going to play next.

Currently playing VII and enjoying it a lot. Since I like the game to be challenging, I try not to grind all that much unless I have to get more cash to buy items, though I imagine that if you want to master all the materia this game would be quite the grindfest. Good story as well, though Cloud is definitely as pathetic as his reputation suggested. The materia system is a blast; setting up characters with various strengths and weaknesses is one of the more enjoyable parts of the RPG experience imo, and the materia system allows for plenty of customization. My only real gripe with the game is the navigation through environments. If I didnt leave the indicator on at all times I dont think I would ever be able to get through the areas, and even then sometimes you need to spam direction inputs until you find a way through. Fortunately it seems like the developers noticed this, and now that im further into the game there are fewer sections that are just a mess.

 

[Omni]

There's a lot wrong with what @rms posted about there only being one way to play Dark Souls. I can't imagine thinking that only heavy two-handed weapon builds are viable because that's blatantly incorrect.

Also, if someone with magic is dying a lot, they're playing improperly. Watch better players if you want to base your opinions off of their gameplay.

 

[rms]

You can all show me the vast amount of variety on youtube from the Dark Souls series if i'm so incorrect

 

[arg]

tried bloodborne but repeatedly dying and starting over with all enemies respawned just pissed me off and i returned it

i need a new immersive game like dragon age 3 and witcher 3 that i can explore at a leisurely pace, hang out in brothels etc

 

[Phylactery]

I've played the first Dragon Age (Morrigan was clearly the best thing about the game), but I haven'tplayed the second or Inquisition.

I loved pretty much every minute of the Witcher 3, and as I previously said the best thing about it for me was the morally ambiguous decisions that had to be made. I hope you made the right decision and picked Yennefer over Triss! The combat in that game isn't all that far away from Dark Souls/Bloodborne to be honest. Same principles of rolling and finding your opening for attacks. It's also not a game where you can just charge and murder everything like a God unless you have it on the easiest setting.

 

[arg]

i tried to romance both of them hoping to get a threesome but ended up with neither lol. oh well at least i nailed em both

i had it on normal and combat was fun. i like the combat of bloodborne in terms of mechanics. it's the 1 shot deaths and starting over losing hours of progress i hated

 

[Manic Ferocity]

There's no point in completing it, and the game mechanics simply reward playing incredibly passively, rolling away, doing a heavy strike, rolling away and repeat. My roommate eats the shit up

It just seems to reflect the gaming industry these days. Lack of story/no story, too much emphasis on graphics and minimal replay value. It also seems to force players to play in 1 way and no creativity.

How exactly does that reflect the gaming industry? If anything, game developers are more insistent than ever on barraging gamers with story. Cut-scenes take up a good portion of a lot of games these days.

Bloodborne has one of the best and most expansive stories I've seen in a video game and I've heard Dark Souls is similar. It just isn't spoon-fed to you because, well, it's a game. The lore in games should be secondary, at most, and optional if the player is interested enough to delve into it. The Souls series handles that perfectly imho.

I liked The Witcher 3 and I think they made the story interactive enough to be worth sticking out until the end. However, the gameplay is weak and is effecting my motivation to return to the game. If they had spent a little more time on that instead of the graphics, story, and dialogue, it might've had a little more replay value for me.

 

[Phylactery]

i tried to romance both of them hoping to get a threesome but ended up with neither lol. oh well at least i nailed em both

Hahaha, how did I know you were going to say this?! Triss is sweet but she's kinda boring and annoying. Yennefer can be a snarky bitch at times, but that's part of the charm. I found her to be a far more interesting character so I went with her. Did you bang Keira Metz as well? I did and I kept worrying that she was going to tell Yennefer and ruin it haha. Thankfully she never did. Have you played the DLC? I've wanted to but I haven't found the time yet.

 

[arg]

of course i banged Keira Metz, i bang anyone i can, including every whore in every brothel, leave no pussy unbanged!!

i was sad to find out Keira died tho :'( in her sidequest i picked the option to let her do what she wants cuz im not a controlling jackass, didn't think it'd lead to her death :'(

yea i think i'll get both dlc

 

[rms]

How exactly does that reflect the gaming industry? If anything, game developers are more insistent than ever on barraging gamers with story. Cut-scenes take up a good portion of a lot of games these days.

Bloodborne has one of the best and most expansive stories I've seen in a video game and I've heard Dark Souls is similar. It just isn't spoon-fed to you because, well, it's a game. The lore in games should be secondary, at most, and optional if the player is interested enough to delve into it. The Souls series handles that perfectly imho

What games are you referring to that overbear the player with story? Because I haven't felt that way in a long time for a modern game.

I don't think cut scenes imply story or a lack there of. That is just some bullshit graphics appeal for commercials. Doesn't Dark Souls have little cut scenes for boss entrances and other shit?

I don't know anything about Bloodborne but I feel like you are confusing lore with story. What drives the character to do anything in Dark Souls? What makes him go from one location to the next? What is his ultimate goal and what is different in the 3 games?

Dark Souls fans use all these descriptions and examples but can't pin point it. I already pointed that out in the Zelda comparison (which was ignored by the Brit) and I think that shows some type of blind love for the game.

 

[Omni]

The motivations of the player character are actually pretty clearly explained in the games, to be honest. There's no ambiguity about that, unlike some of the other elements.

The origin of the character is intentionally ambiguous because you make your own character, so that's your decision.

 

[rms]

So your saying that your character's origin is akin to a DnD game where it's all made up in your head?

What is the motivation and what does he achieve in each game? I started Demon Souls or Dark Souls II, I forget which, and I don't remember anything at the beginning

 

[Phylactery]

I already pointed that out in the Zelda comparison (which was ignored by the Brit) and I think that shows some type of blind love for the game.

You ignored pretty much everything I said. I said it was "kinda" like the Zelda series, which I still stand by. Dark Souls has more RPG elements via levelling up, allocating stats, more spells and a whole host more gear options than any Zelda game. They're still quite similar, though. Sure Ocarina of Time has a bare bones story, but it's hardly ground breaking and I would say that the biggest pull of those games for most players is the exploration/puzzles and combat featured in them. Have you played Ocarina of Time recently? The dialogue at the start of the game is incredibly poor (I still love the game).

You play as a character that is your own creation, like in say Skyrim. You choose gender, appearance, starting class, name, etc. You don't know anything about where you came from or what your purpose is when you start the game. This is something that is revealed to you along your journey.

Here are some passages from a review for the game that I think is quite good, although maybe a bit hyperbolic at times for some:

"While this seems an initially cold, indifferent world, obscure, arcane, and closed off from the player in its lore and inner workings, those willing to pay attention and truly submerse themselves will discover one of the richest, most involving narrative environments in all of gaming. The truth is everywhere. It’s in seemingly innocuous snatches of dialogue. It’s in stories – historical and current – obliquely hinted at in item descriptions, and quietly built throughout subsequent texts. It’s in the names of environments, and bosses, and weapons, and it’s all held together and strengthened by the none-more powerful connective tissue of the silences in between."

"By allowing space for ideas, concepts, and glimpsed narrative to grow in the player’s mind, Dark Souls gives its lore immensely more scale and life than it ever could with a more explicit, but ultimately smaller, more traditionally related story. Again, in the same way that its immediate exploration works, Dark Souls’ narrative operates just as the real world’s does."

 

[rms]

World exploration and puzzles are basically cornerstones of (older) RPGs, but whatevz. Don't really know what I ignored anyways.

Those reviews make it sound so nice, but it seems impossible for someone to tell me what the storyline is? Even if it's just their interpretation?

 

[Phylactery]

Well you could look up the story yourself.

You are given a brief backstory in the intro movie and told about a time when dragons ruled in an age of darkness. They were defeated when a guy called Gywn harnessed the power of the souls of lords which were brought to be by the First Flame. The light of the First Flame began to fade and in order to stop an age of darkness happening again he sacrifices himself to keep the First Flame burning. This creates the Undead curse where you eventually become a hollow. You are the Chosen Undead, you have traveled to the land of Lordran to once again link the fire like Gywn did and trying to undo the Undead curse. You must collect the souls of lords like he did, which are obtained from various bosses. The final boss is Gywn himself and after his defeat you can either chose to follow in his footsteps and link the fire to prolong this age of fire, or you can turn away and usher in a new age of darkness.

That's pretty much the gist of the first one.

 

[CiG]

It just seems to reflect the gaming industry these days. Lack of story/no story, too much emphasis on graphics and minimal replay value.

This is true I think. But I don't really feel Dark Souls falls into this description of modern gaming.

 

[rms]

Story sounds actually interesting in reading the Wiki's, I wish it was more apparent while watching gameplay.



Maybe this will answer this

 

[Omni]

So your saying that your character's origin is akin to a DnD game where it's all made up in your head?

What is the motivation and what does he achieve in each game? I started Demon Souls or Dark Souls II, I forget which, and I don't remember anything at the beginning

Demon's Souls has the most explicit story out of all the Souls games or Bloodborne. If you played that and didn't understand what was going on, that would mean you weren't even paying attention at all.

In that particular game, you play as someone who comes to Boletaria to fight Demons because you want to get their Souls to become powerful. You can choose multiple paths and there is a choice at the end of the game that changes the outcome.

It's the only game out of the bunch where your alignment and actions are clearly either good or bad. The other game endings are definitely up to your personal views on what's best for the game world.

 

[Phylactery]

Dark Souls 3 is amazing. I initially didn't think it quite lived up to the intensity of Bloodborne until I fought Pontiff Sulyvahn and it now far exceeds my expectations. I just beat Aldrich after dying a dozen or so times and I really don't want it to end any time soon. 10/10.

They finally seem to have fixed the issues with the PC version and I've just beat this bitch. Fucking intense and great fight. By far the biggest challenge so far for me.

 

[Dak]

Anyone else on Rocket League?