Author Topic: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics  (Read 64607 times)

hubol

  • Cutesterest
  • ******
  • Posts: 1135
  • Cutes: 630
    • View Profile
    • hubolhubolhubol
Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« on: January 15, 2018, 11:09:47 PM »



post itt about games and grames in '18.... what lastest games are YOU looking forward to? let me know in the comments and i might read em

SquareWheel

  • Administrator
  • Cutester
  • *****
  • Posts: 802
  • Cutes: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2018, 11:24:43 PM »
Can I post about games I've played?  I just played through Firewatch in an afternoon and really enjoyed it.  Touching story, interesting exploration with the map+compass mechanics.  Didn't overstay its welcome by being overlong.  Really nice little game.

SquareWheel

  • Administrator
  • Cutester
  • *****
  • Posts: 802
  • Cutes: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2018, 11:28:47 PM »
Games I'm looking forward to playing are Salt and Sanctuary (single game, not Salt and Sanctuary).  As well as Hollow Knight.

I'm still on a Dark Souls kick and wanted to try some 2D takes on the formula.

Dark Souls is really good by the way.  I've completed the first game six times now.  Very excited for the remaster.

hubol

  • Cutesterest
  • ******
  • Posts: 1135
  • Cutes: 630
    • View Profile
    • hubolhubolhubol
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2018, 12:02:14 AM »
Can I post about games I've played?  I just played through Firewatch in an afternoon and really enjoyed it.  Touching story, interesting exploration with the map+compass mechanics.  Didn't overstay its welcome by being overlong.  Really nice little game.

i havent played this but shorter games are nice. i played shadow of the colossus not long ago and it was a ~10 hour endeavor but i liked how apparent your progress was and how relatively short it was, good experience.

juner

  • Cuter
  • ***
  • Posts: 172
  • Cutes: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2018, 12:10:57 AM »
Don't think that top game of tic-tac-toe is canon  ???  ???...

Firewatch is lovely! I should probably go through and listen to the dev commentary at some point. Ending spoilers: [sp]wasn't entirely sure about the ending when I finished it, with the conspiracy just having a really anticlimactic conclusion. But reflected on it a bit over the night and really appreciate it now. Feels very fitting for both the player and main character to get caught up in the excitement only to be snapped back to reality[/sp].
Looking forward to Campo Santo's next game next year!

I played What Remains of Edith Finch over christmas & that's also a perfect short length story with really clever interactive story vignettes.

After I finished Dark Souls 3 in 2016 a friend wanted to help me through DS1, which I'd not played before. Ended up playing through a fair bit of that following her as she carried me from boss to boss. Was a fun, very different dark souls experience, being given a tour by an excited expert. My favourite part was Sen's Fortress when we kept accidentally killing each other with the pressure plate traps. Took a while to get through there.

juner

  • Cuter
  • ***
  • Posts: 172
  • Cutes: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2018, 12:30:30 AM »
Things i'm looking forward to this year!

Celeste! That platformer developed in part by that person!
Iconoclasts! Platformer adventure in development for years!
Pipe Push Paradise! Which I only saw the other day but it looks a cute puzzgame!
Baba Is You! Also cute puzzgame!
Zwei: Arges Adventure! Because I've been enjoying the sequel & like falcom games & wanna support xseed...
My game! Because if I write this here maybe I'll be motivated to finish making a game for once...

SquareWheel

  • Administrator
  • Cutester
  • *****
  • Posts: 802
  • Cutes: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2018, 01:15:32 AM »
Ending spoilers
Yeah, I heard a lot of people were bothered by the ending but I thought it was quite appropriate.  I never really [sp]got caught up in the conspiracy, and mostly assumed there was a rational explanation behind everything[/sp].  When I found [sp]the body in the cave I kinda pieced together what happened, but thought maybe Ned was just angry at this place for taking his son, and was taking it out on me[/sp].  I was also really glad that [sp]they never put a face to the voice of Delilah in the end, as I think they might have ruined the player's imagination of her up to that point[/sp].

They did a really good job of building the story and getting the player involved.  I went in basically blind and came out really impressed.

After I finished Dark Souls 3 in 2016 a friend wanted to help me through DS1, which I'd not played before.
Loove Sen's Fortress.  That [sp]hidden bonfire[/sp] is the best troll in the entire game.

DS1 is probably super clunky if you're coming from DS3.  It's a much slower game, and the combat is more proactive than reactive.  But man the world design is just so captivating.  Makes me genuinely excited when I get back into it, and to start unlocking shortcuts.

I've been doing more challenge runs lately.  On DS1 I've completed a randomizer run and an SL1 run (no leveling).  On DS3 I recently finished a "blue estus only" run (can only heal through slow-casting miracles).  [sp]Nameless King[/sp] was veery tough.  More so even than DLC bosses.

All the remaster hype has got me excited to play some more.

juner

  • Cuter
  • ***
  • Posts: 172
  • Cutes: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2018, 02:04:23 AM »
But man the world design is just so captivating.  Makes me genuinely excited when I get back into it, and to start unlocking shortcuts.
Yeah, I'm a lil sad I'll never be able to quite explore DS1 as a first-time player, slowly piecing together the geography of the world and stumbling upon surprising shortcuts for the first time. At least my memory is a little fuzzy from the whirlwind tour.

Never actually made it to [sp]Nameless King[/sp] in my DS3 playthrough, found all the secret areas except for that boss's. Just watched a vid & they look tough...

Have you played DS2 at all?

i played shadow of the colossus not long ago and it was a ~10 hour endeavor but i liked how apparent your progress was and how relatively short it was, good experience.

what was your fave colossus, mine was [sp]the lil one that you trick into knocking over the pillars[/sp]. a good game!

hubol

  • Cutesterest
  • ******
  • Posts: 1135
  • Cutes: 630
    • View Profile
    • hubolhubolhubol
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2018, 04:31:32 AM »
what was your fave colossus, mine was [sp]the lil one that you trick into knocking over the pillars[/sp]. a good game!

good question!!! [sp]the first lil cat one was interesting! scaring it with fire was funny. its hard to pick a favorite... i felt smart when i figured out most of them, unfortunately i had seen videos of some of the early ones (i never thought i'd own a box that could play the game) so those were less surprising... oh also the big salamander was good[/sp]

SquareWheel

  • Administrator
  • Cutester
  • *****
  • Posts: 802
  • Cutes: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2018, 04:31:59 AM »
Never actually made it to [sp]Nameless King[/sp] in my DS3 playthrough, found all the secret areas except for that boss's. Just watched a vid & they look tough...
I had help.  A friend asked me if I wanted to know about a secret area, and said I'd never find it because it required a [sp]gesture[/sp].  I'd recently found both the [sp]dragon shrine and the gesture needed[/sp] though, so was able to piece it together with the hint.  Two very cool bosses.

Have you played DS2 at all?

I've played through DS2 twice now.  I have a lot I'd like to say about it.  I'll try to keep it brief.

DS2 is by far the longest game.  It has the most content (areas, bosses, weapon types, everything).  However I think it could have benefited from cutting some of the fat.  The world design isn't nearly as tight as the other two games, and half way through I find it starts to feel like a bit of a slog.  There's a ton of bosses, but many feel uninspired.

However, DS2 absolutely excels in its mechanics.  They made a lot of drastic changes from DS1, a number of which survived into DS3.  They simplified weapon upgrades (which was much needed), made rolling omni-directional (DS1 is locked to four directions), and made hollowing much more significant.  Dying now hollows you progressively, lowering your max health over time down to 50%.  This can be limited to 75% with a ring, or temporarily restored using a consumable.

Rings are less powerful, but you can wear up to 4 of them now.  They kept this change in DS3.  There's more combat-oriented rings though with some straight up affecting attack damage.

You are susceptible to invasions at all times.  I'm not a huge fan of it, but invaders probably love it.  The game still has an active PVP scene because it works so well.  I'd argue better than DS3.

Life gems were an interesting inclusion.  They're basically consumable health potions that you can buy.  They heal slower than estus, so the intention is that they should be used between combat while estus is reserved for in-the-moment healing.  Personally though I think this takes too much away from the Dark Souls formula and wasn't a good inclusion.

DS2 is a bit weird.  Important items like rings and spells will drop from regular enemies, thus can be farmed.  A lot of armor applies effects like falling damage reduction, souls gain, preventing backstabs, and other stuff.  This is the complete opposite of DS3's approach which made all armor effectively equal, to try and encourage fashion souls.

DS2 introduced a great torch mechanic and I'm really sad it didn't stay in the series.  You collect torches which give you temporary light at the cost of a shield, and you can use it to light sconces around the map.  Sometimes there's secrets, sometimes it's useful just for lighting the area up.

You can climb up ladders super fast in DS2.  Small thing but it's a nice bonus.

Agility is an interesting design choice.  It affects things like how quickly you can chug estus or how many iframes you get from rolling.  It's interesting because it means you can focus first on improving survivability over damage output, which is a neat gameplay consideration.  But it also means that new players perceive the game as super clunky and unresponsive, and I think that reputation has hurt DS2.  If you decide to play, level up your Adaptability immediately, and that increases your secondary Agility stat.

While DS2's base maps are probably the weakest in the series, the DLC is some of the best.  The level and boss designs are very good, and I think might be even better than the Ringed City.  The Sunken Crown Old Iron King DLC has two great boss fights, and Ivory King has some of the best environments.

DS2 gets a lot of shit - some of it deserved - but it's still a fantastic game that's contributed much to the series.  It's very much worth playing.  Especially the DLCs.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2018, 07:01:19 AM by SquareWheel »

juner

  • Cuter
  • ***
  • Posts: 172
  • Cutes: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2018, 12:13:50 PM »
Thanks for the write up! DS2 sounds kinda cool and experimental.

I liked using torches a fair bit in DS3 to light up some of the darker indoor areas, but I was dual wielding for the whole game and didn't have to sacrifice a shield for it.
Dragons Dogma was a game I played that did darkness & torches/lanterns really well. Adventuring out at night time and getting lost in the woods felt genuinely perilous, relying on your lanterns to eke out just a few feet of visibility, a vague glance at oncoming shapes. A good lighting system helps to sell it, and magic is wonderfully bright as it goes flying around at night.

Was quite surprised they didn't stick with an estus equivalent in Bloodborne, & had you farm healing items instead. But I guess it was in part to encourage people to use the rally mechanic, where you can regain lost health if you quickly attack an enemy after being wounded. Plus at least the healing items had a dedicated button and refilled back to max capacity from your storage whenever you died.

aimaina

  • Administrator
  • Cutesterest
  • *****
  • Posts: 1320
  • Cutes: 211
    • View Profile
  • Pronouns: she/her
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2018, 06:50:48 AM »
wow people are making the posts..... good job everyone..... im excited to play dark's soul for the first time when it comes out on the switchy

i was playing breath of the wild a lot up until recently but i think im done with it now..... im kinda sad that none of the stuff left to do in the game appeals to me...... i only have 104 shrines but i feel like ive searched the map pretty thoroughly already, i dont wanna look for more korok seeds, & the "side quests" seem mostly like boring fetch quests..... the dlc doesnt interest me either.....

i feel conflicted about that game..... its really something special and its probably my favourite 3d zelda but i also feel weirdly lukewarm about it..... i played it for 65+ hours or something and i kept picking it up again to explore more after i thought i was done, but my interest eventually just kinda tapered off.....
~Without love, the truth cannot be seen~

this is watermelon :watermelon: put her in your signature so she can achieve world domination

SquareWheel

  • Administrator
  • Cutester
  • *****
  • Posts: 802
  • Cutes: 139
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2018, 07:01:53 AM »
Er, sorry.  I accidentally left a section of text unspoilered.  Fixed now that it's too late.

juner

  • Cuter
  • ***
  • Posts: 172
  • Cutes: 101
    • View Profile
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2018, 12:17:04 PM »
wow people are making the posts..... good job everyone..... im excited to play dark's soul for the first time when it comes out on the switchy

i was playing breath of the wild a lot up until recently but i think im done with it now..... im kinda sad that none of the stuff left to do in the game appeals to me...... i only have 104 shrines but i feel like ive searched the map pretty thoroughly already, i dont wanna look for more korok seeds, & the "side quests" seem mostly like boring fetch quests..... the dlc doesnt interest me either.....

i feel conflicted about that game..... its really something special and its probably my favourite 3d zelda but i also feel weirdly lukewarm about it..... i played it for 65+ hours or something and i kept picking it up again to explore more after i thought i was done, but my interest eventually just kinda tapered off.....

i think it's fine to lose interest in something after playing it for so long! i found that breathy kinda really relies on the player's sense of exploration and discovery to fuel the gameplay loop so it definitely suffers once the player has lapped most of the kingdom. and it doesn't do an awful lot to shake things up & keep stuff fresh as you go through the game, like new ways to get around or new powers/items or changes in the world.

i enjoyed the shrine quests the most out of all the questy things since they encouraged exploration and having fun interacting with the environment in cute ways. was always disappointed when i did a shrine quest and the shrine was just "here's you're Orb," though. i want cool shrine puzzles as a reward for doin shrine quests!!

but yeah i'm satisfied not ever completing everything in breathy since i had such a good time in those first 30+ hours. and finding all the koroks sounds tedious as heck. i'm looking forward to how they do stuff differently in a breathy 2.

hubol

  • Cutesterest
  • ******
  • Posts: 1135
  • Cutes: 630
    • View Profile
    • hubolhubolhubol
Re: Video Games in 1918: Back to Basics
« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2018, 04:39:08 PM »
the shrine quests are cute and yes it seems most of the side quests are "give me 10!!!!" with rupee rewards

im doing a second playthrough of zeddon on the Hardenated mode and im finding a bunch of shrines i missed and im trying to get as many koroks as i can reasonably find. im too busy to play for hours on end so its just something nice to do every now and then for short bursts.

then on the other hand there's mario where i start it up and grab a couple post-game moons and become instantly overwhelmed with the remaining amount and quit. theres something radically different about discovery and exploration in these games, and it obviously affects my will to keep playing, but i cant really put it to words