Quicksilver-75
4 of a Kind
Found myself delving back into Fallout 4, Skyrim and Mass Effect Legendary after buying my kids an Xbox Series X. I can't believe how much better the games run and look. It's unreal.
Speaking of games looking better, I've been doing my 2nd playthrough of Breath of the Wild in 4k/60fps on emulator on my PC. It's sweet!Found myself delving back into Fallout 4, Skyrim and Mass Effect Legendary after buying my kids an Xbox Series X. I can't believe how much better the games run and look. It's unreal.
Wait, how!?Speaking of games looking better, I've been doing my 2nd playthrough of Breath of the Wild in 4k/60fps on emulator on my PC. It's sweet!
I picked up Divinity Original Sin 2 on Steam sale for $17.99
I have to give a warning: You will want to play it on the easiest setting (story mode) or 2nd easiest (explorer mode) to start. In the beginning you are fairly brittle and decent gear is hard to come by. You'll find most encounters to be difficult, with enemies getting the drop on you where your party is all clumped up while they're spread out, allowing them to rain down effects on your entire party with better initiative. At least until you've gotten a handle on the game (you can adjust difficulty up to Classic mode on the fly)
BUT, if you do a LOT of research you'll figure out how to properly spec your characters and will be able to dish out the damage and enjoy the tactical combat. The game is not perfect, but it does a LOT right and is like a D&D sandbox (the studio behind this game is the one making Baldurs Gate 3) with various synergies (i.e. someone casts a water based spell and then follow up with air based to electrify the now wet enemies, or earth based to put oil on the ground and then pyro based to set it and any enemies standing there alight)
I'm only in the 2nd Act (there are 5) and there's supposed to be about 100 hours of gameplay here. I wound up getting a mod that allows you to have a party of 6 instead of just 4 (thus allowing me to bring along ALL the customized companions in the game that have their own origin stories and sidequests)
The voiced dialogue (especially the narrator) is phenomenal, and you really feel like you have a solid DM guiding you through various storylines. There's plenty of humor to be had as well, and I highly recommend you pickup the "Pet Pal" skill, which allows you to speak with animals you encounter in the game.
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We used to play a ton of WCW/NWO Revenge and WWF No Mercy. I also had Wailea Golf which was a lot of fun.I'm replaying Red Dead Redemption 2, and wondering if and when RockStar is ever gonna put out GTA 6. Sounds like the can is getting kicked further and further down the road. 10+ years between installments is pretty unbelievable.
I also just bought a Nintendo 64 and am currently playing Super Mario 64 for probably the 1,000th time in my life, but it's been over a decade since #999. What an unbelievable game. Just ordered copies of Mario Kart 64 and StarFox 64 as well, which are two of my other all time favorites on the N64.
Phenomenal game. Lone wolf tactician is my favorite mode, although I do use one companion
I find a lot of the combat encounters yo be a bit....unfair. often having enemies spread out with the high ground edge and your party surrounded and dangerously close to combustibles
The key is using your talents and abilities wisely. Teleportation and movement skills are crucial along with focusing and stun locking the most dangerous enemies early on in any given fight.
AOE skills after teleporting enemies into clusters also works well.
Don't discount high initiative on your main or setting your group smartly around the battlefield before starting a fight. This mostly comes with experience though.
Also, use the environment to your advantage.
And not every character in your party can teleport. And sometimes the enemy can teleport you away so you have to slog through traps and burning, poisoned acid surfaces to get to them, etc
I just bought Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC this weekend, it was on sale on the Epic Games store, and they had a $10-off any title holiday coupon.I'm replaying Red Dead Redemption 2, and wondering if and when RockStar is ever gonna put out GTA 6. Sounds like the can is getting kicked further and further down the road. 10+ years between installments is pretty unbelievable.
@Anthony Martino there’s also skills such as Fortify which keep you from being teleportable
True, but as you said, the game does little to guide you. And who the hell left all these exploding barrels around?
It just seems the designers thought they were overly clever....in every f*cking interaction you have
Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying it, but more for the interactions than the frustrating combats and puzzles
It’s definitely frustrating at first, especially for me as I started on tactician.
One of the great things about the game is figuring out the puzzles and how to achieve certain goals. There’s always multiple ways, including some outside the box ways of achieving things.
One of the best things about the game IMO.
I started on Classic and had to dial it back.
Wish you could highlight environmental objects better, some are highlighted with ALT but others aren't, so you have to hunt hoping to find something interactable like a switch or whatever
I've found it's sometimes easier to just go full murder hobo than trying to sneak, for instance, but I never liked sneaking much in games anyway
Positively loving Sir Loras and his undead cat mount Quercas. He was caught checking out another undead cat and was like "I was looking at her bone structure!"
Sneaking in this game is mostly pointless, there's really only one situation I've used it in.
Full murder hobo is pretty much the way to escape Fort Joy, especially if you ever move to tactician. You'll need every bit of experience you can get on tactician.
You've inspired me to download the game again and start another playthrough. Are you running a mixed, physical, or magical damage party?
I have a mod so I can have a party of six, experience all of the storylines
I'm playing the Dwarf as a Cleric, mixed with sword n board fighting and water based magic with a bit of necromancy
Fane (the undead Eternal) is a Wizard focused on summoning, then Pyro
The human guy is my Archer with Huntsman skills
The female elf a dual-blade rogue with Scoundrel skills
Lohse is focused on mostly Air magic
And The Red Prince is my front-line tanky sword n board fighter
A few characters have some earth based spells, but no one has gone solidly geo yet
This might be one of the reasons that you're struggling. Running a mixed damage party in this game is tough unless you really know what you're doing.
A full physical or magic damage party are easier to play. It takes much longer to stun lock/put status effects on enemies when you do split damage. The key is to wear down an enemy's physical or magical armor first so you can apply knockdowns or other status effects that cause them to skip a turn. Splitting the type of damage dealt leads to much longer, more frustrating fights and leaves more enemies on the battlefield that can stun lock your own characters.
Also, just because a character is a mage doesn't mean that they cause magical damage. Summoning and Necromancy mostly deal physical damage and polymorph is a bit of a mix IIRC.
So I just completed the Driftwood Arena (the one underneath the tavern) and good grief even when you're being rewarded you're being punished. You get a key to the "Vault of the One" to go get your treasure. But there's a locked door down there, and as far as I can tell there's NO f*cking way anyone could possibly know they have to cast the Source spell Bless on the first door to get through.
Then the next room is full of petrifying goop being shot out everywhere, and you have to somehow know way up out of your sight there's a valve you need to run or teleport a character to, in order to shut it all down.
But we're not finished with our inane design decisions, now you can walk SUPER SLOWLY through all this oil on the ground to go open the chests.
I mean, what kinda f*cking sadists were the designers, does EVERYTHING have to be such a chore? Somehow I'm still enjoying this f*cking game despite itself.
I am currently replaying this. Love, love love this game. Last of Us 2 is next up in the Q.I just bought Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC this weekend, it was on sale on the Epic Games store, and they had a $10-off any title holiday coupon.
It ended up being under $20!
This is the first year I've skipped it since 2014. I have 21 on the PS5, and from what I've read, there's pretty much little to no difference between the two.Have been playing a ton of FIFA lately. As much as it makes me hate the game I keep coming back to it every year