(06-12-2024, 12:05 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: I wish I'd have held off. I enjoyed the story and the gameplay, but about two weeks in they did an update that made it unplayable with lag and rubber banding. In-game simple functions (opening a menu) causing many PC players' high-end graphics cards to overheat and brick. With little to no interaction from MicroActiBlizz. All the while, "adding" new microtransactions to the store and working on "future content" rather than fixing the mess they created. Then, to further slap pre-orderers and Day 1 Launch customers who paid retail price (imagine wasting $100 on the "Utimate Edition" as a pre-order)  they made the game available on Game Pass within its first couple months.

I'm just thankful I traded it in at GameStop when it still held high value, and I'm also thankful I'm not a PC player, because with MY luck, I would have been one of those who's $1000+ GPU got bricked!

Oof. I've become more and more picky in my old age when it comes to paying full price for games. At the rate I go through them (still haven't finished Baulder's Gate 3, or FF7 Rebirth, or Tears of the Kingdom, or....) it's just so much better to wait some time and get a game with fewer glitches, more patches, and sometimes even full DLCs thrown in for Day 1 price.

(06-12-2024, 01:11 PM)CKwi88 Wrote: Oof. I've become more and more picky in my old age when it comes to paying full price for games. At the rate I go through them (still haven't finished Baulder's Gate 3, or FF7 Rebirth, or Tears of the Kingdom, or....) it's just so much better to wait some time and get a game with fewer glitches, more patches, and sometimes even full DLCs thrown in for Day 1 price.

i bought Diablo 4 for full price and dont regret it even as a gamepass member as i have always loved the Diablo franchise...  (not you diablo immortal...)

I got my time out of it and will be going back with the expansion (at some point).  i enjoyed the story. 


But for most games day 1 is a hard sell  especially after years of catching games on sale and building a backlog.   

And i have a hard time understanding the Paying for Preview games. lol

(06-10-2024, 03:12 PM)Stewy Wrote: I'll just leave this here

I liked it. Especially the Artistic direction. Love the cartoon vibes. It gives a lot of identity.

(06-17-2024, 10:00 AM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: I liked it. Especially the Artistic direction. Love the cartoon vibes. It gives a lot of identity.

That was a pure cinematic and the majority of DA fans didn't like it.  I felt it was a bit campy, which DA can be at times, but it really isn;t a good representation of what the game will be like.

Here is the 20+ minute Gameplay reveal, which completely changed how people feel about it.  This got overwhelmingly positive reviews from fans and critics.

I picked up the new version of Oregon trail lol..

Also Elden ring DLC is finally here on friday.

Started playing forza Horizon 5 as well... such a fun racing game.

if you still play on an xbox 360.... all non back compat titles are now on sale before the Store shut down next month

https://www.trueachievements.com/news/non-backwards-compatible-xbox-360-games-sale

(shutdown only affects the actual 360 store any titles you can play via back compat on X1 or newer systems will still be available in those stores.)

Forza Horizon 4 to be delisted from Stores and Gamepass 12/15/24 (due to license issues) if you haven't played it and want to check it out be sure to do so before then...

Like the ones before it likely gets a super discounted price right before being delisted.

Capcom has announced Dead Rising 1 is getting a Remaster again

(06-27-2024, 12:06 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: Capcom has announced Dead Rising 1 is getting a Remaster again

Capcom has a Show later today

I bought Baldur's Gate 3 this weekend as part of the Steam Summer Sale (only 20% off, but it's a record low for BG3).

And, wow, this game is huge. Not only in its game file size and world size, but the number of options you had. It took me 90 minutes just to make my character (granted I could have jumped in, but I wanted to customize the character's look) and kept second guessing what class and race I wanted to play haha. I'm 3 hours into the campaign and I still am asking "should I restart and pick a new class?"

It's a really fun game so far though.

(07-01-2024, 10:58 AM)CJD Wrote: I bought Baldur's Gate 3 this weekend as part of the Steam Summer Sale (only 20% off, but it's a record low for BG3).

And, wow, this game is huge. Not only in its game file size and world size, but the number of options you had. It took me 90 minutes just to make my character (granted I could have jumped in, but I wanted to customize the character's look) and kept second guessing what class and race I wanted to play haha. I'm 3 hours into the campaign and I still am asking "should I restart and pick a new class?"

It's a really fun game so far though.

A normal run is more than 100h of gameplay. It's actually the best game I've ever played. 

Go blind and enjoy your journey.

Workers and Ressources Soviet Republic is the best building city game out there.

Incredibly hard and rewarding.

I'm finally knocking out an IP that I missed the start of because I wasn't in the States. I bought all 4 Mass Effect games for $13 dollars and I'm halfway through the 2nd lol.

(07-09-2024, 12:09 PM)Synric Wrote: I'm finally knocking out an IP that I missed the start of because I wasn't in the States. I bought all 4 Mass Effect games for $13 dollars and I'm halfway through the 2nd lol.

ME is my favorite series.  I have 40+ PTs of each game.

Some non-spoiler things:
---Things you do in ME1 will affect certain things in ME3.
---ME2 is somewhat different than ME1/ME3 in that it is more a character driven (many companions) "Shepard" adventure vs. a grandiose save the galaxy exercise.  ME2 is the majority of ME fans favorite of the three games, but mine is ME3.
---ME3 endings:  As you may have heard, the endings of ME3 can be considered by some to be "lacking".  But keep in mind that the entire game of ME3 IS the ending (where you resolve the previous games story lines) and not just the final 30 minutes.  I share this ahead of time because it completely changes ones perception of ME3.  ME1/2 have very abrupt, but satisfying normal endings, whereas ME3 hits a different note.

---MEA is not really a ME game.  If you removed all references to ME, it would just be a random space adventure.  It's gameplay is the best in the series, but it had a challenged Dev cycle, and doesn't hit the same as other Bioware games.  If you enjoy the first three then I definitely suggest you try it, but do not expect ME4 or even ME: Next.  It's just a story in the ME universe, but it could be in any universe.

Enjoy!

(07-09-2024, 12:54 PM)Stewy Wrote: ME is my favorite series.  I have 40+ PTs of each game.

Some non-spoiler things:
---Things you do in ME1 will affect certain things in ME3.
---ME2 is somewhat different than ME1/ME3 in that it is more a character driven (many companions) "Shepard" adventure vs. a grandiose save the galaxy exercise.  ME2 is the majority of ME fans favorite of the three games, but mine is ME3.
---ME3 endings:  As you may have heard, the endings of ME3 can be considered by some to be "lacking".  But keep in mind that the entire game of ME3 IS the ending (where you resolve the previous games story lines) and not just the final 30 minutes.  I share this ahead of time because it completely changes ones perception of ME3.  ME1/2 have very abrupt, but satisfying normal endings, whereas ME3 hits a different note.

---MEA is not really a ME game.  If you removed all references to ME, it would just be a random space adventure.  It's gameplay is the best in the series, but it had a challenged Dev cycle, and doesn't hit the same as other Bioware games.  If you enjoy the first three then I definitely suggest you try it, but do not expect ME4 or even ME: Next.  It's just a story in the ME universe, but it could be in any universe.

Enjoy!

i really cant think of any other modern games with Sequels outside of Mass effect where your character choices and progress is retained through multiple titles.

I know it happened in OLDER games  Like Baldurs gate   and some real old ones like Bards Tale.

Do you know of any others with this mechanic?

(07-09-2024, 04:24 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: i really cant think of any other modern games with Sequels outside of Mass effect where your character choices and progress is retained through multiple titles.

I know it happened in OLDER games  Like Baldurs gate   and some real old ones like Bards Tale.

Do you know of any others with this mechanic?

Just Dragon Age - if you recall the DA Keep (released prior to Inquisition).  It would record your accomplishments as they happen via accomplishment unlocks.  You could then set a world state which would "flavor" Inquisition.  Change a few quests, change some codex and lore, etc.  Example:  If you lived and who you romanced in DAO would come into conversations and quests in DAI and as you changed that in your world state, so would your dialogue.

For Veilguard they are not supporting the keep but giving you an apparently MASSIVE set of choices (choose or not to choose) to make a custom "End of Inquisition" world state right in the game instead of using the DAKeep.  Apparently, the Hero of Feralden and Hawke are not involved in Veilguard, so they are not part of the lore/choices you make in the character creation.  Hardcore DA fans are mostly ok with this, though disappointed about no HoF or Hawke.  My guess is that if this style of back story creation hits well with fans then the same style will be used for the next ME game.

As for other titles that carry over choice, no it really is a ME thing, but then ME1-2-3 were designed as a trilogy from the start, whereas most games are not built that way, including DA.

(07-09-2024, 07:40 PM)Stewy Wrote: Just Dragon Age - if you recall the DA Keep (released prior to Inquisition).  It would record your accomplishments as they happen via accomplishment unlocks.  You could then set a world state which would "flavor" Inquisition.  Change a few quests, change some codex and lore, etc.  Example:  If you lived and who you romanced in DAO would come into conversations and quests in DAI and as you changed that in your world state, so would your dialogue.

For Veilguard they are not supporting the keep but giving you an apparently MASSIVE set of choices (choose or not to choose) to make a custom "End of Inquisition" world state right in the game instead of using the DAKeep.  Apparently, the Hero of Feralden and Hawke are not involved in Veilguard, so they are not part of the lore/choices you make in the character creation.  Hardcore DA fans are mostly ok with this, though disappointed about no HoF or Hawke.  My guess is that if this style of back story creation hits well with fans then the same style will be used for the next ME game.

As for other titles that carry over choice, no it really is a ME thing, but then ME1-2-3 were designed as a trilogy from the start, whereas most games are not built that way, including DA.

okay haven't dived deeply into Dragon age yet...

Yeah only other one that came to mind was really Baldur's Gate 1 SoD and 2 (also bioware)

(07-09-2024, 12:54 PM)Stewy Wrote: ME is my favorite series.  I have 40+ PTs of each game.

Some non-spoiler things:
---Things you do in ME1 will affect certain things in ME3.
---ME2 is somewhat different than ME1/ME3 in that it is more a character driven (many companions) "Shepard" adventure vs. a grandiose save the galaxy exercise.  ME2 is the majority of ME fans favorite of the three games, but mine is ME3.
---ME3 endings:  As you may have heard, the endings of ME3 can be considered by some to be "lacking".  But keep in mind that the entire game of ME3 IS the ending (where you resolve the previous games story lines) and not just the final 30 minutes.  I share this ahead of time because it completely changes ones perception of ME3.  ME1/2 have very abrupt, but satisfying normal endings, whereas ME3 hits a different note.

---MEA is not really a ME game.  If you removed all references to ME, it would just be a random space adventure.  It's gameplay is the best in the series, but it had a challenged Dev cycle, and doesn't hit the same as other Bioware games.  If you enjoy the first three then I definitely suggest you try it, but do not expect ME4 or even ME: Next.  It's just a story in the ME universe, but it could be in any universe.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice for ME3 since I'm playing them back to back it feels like one very long game so far although I hope to finish two this weekend before NCAA 25 release.

(07-09-2024, 04:24 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: i really cant think of any other modern games with Sequels outside of Mass effect where your character choices and progress is retained through multiple titles.

I know it happened in OLDER games  Like Baldurs gate   and some real old ones like Bards Tale.

Do you know of any others with this mechanic?

(07-09-2024, 07:40 PM)Stewy Wrote: Just Dragon Age - if you recall the DA Keep (released prior to Inquisition).  It would record your accomplishments as they happen via accomplishment unlocks.  You could then set a world state which would "flavor" Inquisition.  Change a few quests, change some codex and lore, etc.  Example:  If you lived and who you romanced in DAO would come into conversations and quests in DAI and as you changed that in your world state, so would your dialogue.

For Veilguard they are not supporting the keep but giving you an apparently MASSIVE set of choices (choose or not to choose) to make a custom "End of Inquisition" world state right in the game instead of using the DAKeep.  Apparently, the Hero of Feralden and Hawke are not involved in Veilguard, so they are not part of the lore/choices you make in the character creation.  Hardcore DA fans are mostly ok with this, though disappointed about no HoF or Hawke.  My guess is that if this style of back story creation hits well with fans then the same style will be used for the next ME game.

As for other titles that carry over choice, no it really is a ME thing, but then ME1-2-3 were designed as a trilogy from the start, whereas most games are not built that way, including DA.

I'm pretty sure The Witcher rolls over some story choices from 2 to 3 but it's been a while since I've played them.

(07-10-2024, 05:37 PM)Synric Wrote: I'm pretty sure The Witcher rolls over some story choices from 2 to 3 but it's been a while since I've played them.

Yes.  A few.  Who you romanced before changes some dialogue.  The fate of the "villian" at the end of W2 matters as well, but you make decisions on those choices at the beginning of the game or as you go along vs. the decisions being carried along through save files as in ME.