Topic: Gamer thread

[phillyt]

Hmmm, thats too bad.  Dark Souls was amazing.  Really an amazing work of art over and above being a game.

[Realjuan]

Does anyone want a free Steam key for Gnomoria? Just be someone that really considers playing the game.

I enjoy it myself.

[phillyt]

Annnnnddddd....

Blood Borne is absolutely incredible by every single account.

Thank god.

[valmir]

Hmmm, thats too bad.  Dark Souls was amazing.  Really an amazing work of art over and above being a game.

Very much this. I think about it very much in terms of art. I feel like I can't even start talking about Dark Souls without writing a 10k-word thesis on it. From the way in which "story" is replaced with "lore", to the way in which every. single. aspect. of what you see on screen relates to that lore, to the way in which difficulty is used as a way of modulating the speed of the player's progress through the game (thus inviting deeper examination/consideration of what you see), to the way that it simply presents a bunch of stuff, that you can probe into as shallowly or as deeply as you like.

It's like one of those massive Brueghel crowd paintings. It doesn't grab you by the face and drag you through a plot - but the longer you stare at it, the more intricate and finely-wrought and fascinating the details are.

By comparison, I feel like the Bioshock games, for instance, beat me around the head with their (admittedly awesome) plot, and that there isn't so much there that's worth looking closer at the second time through.

BUT: this very act of throwing the ball back into the player's court in terms of their chosen 'investment' in the game also makes it one of the most purely "game" experiences I've ever had.

Also, I like that "hollowing" is basically the in-game explanation for rage quitting. Did you become the Chosen Undead and link the fire? Of course you did, because you didn't "hollow" before the final boss fight!

At the same time, I get that DS is not for everyone. It is, I think, a fairly niche gaming experience, and I don't just rabidly recommend it to everyone for this reason. It just happens to appeal to basically every single thing that I want out of a game.

[Brad]

Annnnnddddd....

Blood Borne is absolutely incredible by every single account.

Thank god.

*shrug* From what I've seen, it seems a bit too same-ol' same-ol' to me.  Perhaps I'm just Soulsed out.  In any case, it's certainly not good enough to get me to buy a PS4 just for one game.  But I'll reserve full judgement until I've seen an EpicNameBro playthrough.

[valmir]

The first ENB video is already up.

I dunno, I want to hold off on seeing too much of it before actually playing it.

[Sig]

I'll check the reviews and then buy it. Looking promising though.

[Noble Korhedron]

What's ENB?!

[valmir]

EpicNameBro

He's a guy on YouTube that has made some pretty decent Souls-related videos. He was also involved in writing the official guides for both Dark Souls II and Bloodborne.

Good stuff.

[phillyt]

I love it.  It is seriously disturbed though.  And hard.  Like, it hates me passionately hard.

Feels quite different than normal DS games.

One big change is the inability to tank.  I miss tanking.  It is all about the dodging.

Hugely characterful!

[valmir]

One big change is the inability to tank.  I miss tanking.  It is all about the dodging.

Right up my alley, then!

Tanking never worked, for me. Mainly because I'm, like, really NOT actually good at computer games. So the second I allow myself to get hit at all, I'm fucked. So, ironically, my total uselessness at all things "skill" led to me developing a highly dodge/parry-based playstyle for the souls games (although tanking in full Havel's is still the only way I've managed to get through Four Kings in the first game).

The videos I've watched look like a LOT of fun. I almost ordered a PS4 online on impulse. But then I was all, like, "No, Valmir! Remember you have to pay for rent and food this month!"

[Sig]

Tanking took a lot less skill than dodge and particularly parry ever did! I respect anyone who could parry their way through Gwyn.

[Brad]

The first ENB video is already up.

Already watched it 

Lately in DS2 I've been forgoing a shield completely in favour of dodging.  It's actually making things much easier for me.

Parrying Gwyn is actually easy mode - tanking him is a right pain.

[Sig]

Heh, I tanked him no problem! Just need high stam and a stable shield..

[phillyt]

I made a tanky guy.  I often do.  I love big shields and armor.

No armor or shields in this.  If you liked DS, this games will restore your love after the so so DS2.  So I've heard, haven't yet played 2 yet.

I was growling at my screen though on the first level though...

[Finlay]

I was growling at my screen though on the first level though...

aaaand thats the reason I don't want to play them

[phillyt]

Its quite hard by modern standards, but it certainly isn't Nintendo hard.

But yeah, if you play games for a chill experience, this is not the game to play.

But you play multiplayer in the Crucible, so you know what it is like to sometimes be frustrated.

[Finlay]

Its quite hard by modern standards, but it certainly isn't Nintendo hard.

But yeah, if you play games for a chill experience, this is not the game to play.

But you play multiplayer in the Crucible, so you know what it is like to sometimes be frustrated.

I was getting cross in the crucible last night, but my daily k/d for yesterday was 1.89. -ridiculously high standards "these guys are shit, i should be doing even better!"
It's awesome being actually quite good at an online fps game. First time ever for me. (I am top 4% for average score per game, and top 10% for average kills+assists/death)

I like FTL and that is punishingly hard, I just never found it that frustrating as it's not too much time invested in each run.

[phillyt]

FTL has a different sort of difficulty.  There are times where you simply cannot win because of some decision you make or because the game didn't set up the experience properly, but it never feels as though the game hates you and wants to shame you publically for all your faults.

Dark Souls and its brothers hate you.  They want to abuse you. They want you to hate them.  And when you reach a point where you Limit Break and go all SSJ and everything clicks as you absolutely paddle the game like the school yard bully, you have this immense feeling of mastery and satisfaction the likes of which wouldn't have been possible if the game hadn't set itself up as the Big Boss and beaten you bloody repeatedly on the way.

[Battlekruse]

Im looking foward for the Pillars of Eternity there is going to be release soon. 

[Sig]

I tended to play a guy in lightish armour but with a heavy shield. Pretty fast, got hurt if anything got past my shield but able to block pretty much anything. The Souls games are never unfair, that's the best part. When you get good, you pretty much never die.

Then you pvp and the real pain begins.

[phillyt]

See I tanked my way through, so moving to a system where you simply cannot tank is tough.  This game revolves around dodging, which is fine if you are ready for that style, and parrying and riposting.  In this game though, parrying involves shooting the bad guy at a specific moment to cause them to stop and then you hammer them with a fast attack.

I'm learning.  The visuals are very cool, though I'm still not sure how they will get away from the dreary sameness of the previews.  I liked the strange sort of corrupted yet traditional setting of Dark Souls.

[Sig]

Apparently you get out into the suburbs and woods around the city. I would expect most of it would be the Victorian nightmare of the previews though. Reviews said it took about 60 hours first playthrough, doing a fair bit of optional stuff. That's not bad.

I never really tanked as in played a character who could take actual hits, but I blocked everything I could and only dodged when blocking didn't work. And those types of hits you couldn't tank anyway, like Capra's double swing or the slams from the Gaping Dragon.

[phillyt]

I just love tanking in any RPG type game.  Something the kid in me was always drawn to, the massively armored knight standing against the tides!

Yeah, I read a quick playthrough was 35 hours without working to find anything secret.

You'll love this game man.

[Sig]

Yeah I can't wait. No time right now though, get up at 5:30, go to work, pick up my son after work, cook, work out, then shower and bed at 9:30.

My son is getting the miniscule free time I have on this shift! Since I started lifting again (quarter life fat guy crisis) got no time. Next month is night shift though, going to hit it hard. Can't look after my boy when he's asleep!