Video & PC Game Discussion

progkidjoel wrote: Gamemako wrote: progkidjoel wrote: Mr ProgFreak wrote: ^ What annoyed me about Oblivion was the boring gameplay. Some of it was fun, but most of the time you would simply be leveling up in auto-generated dungeons. I think that this whole idea of the world adjusting to your level takes all the fun out of exploring. Like for example, when you start out and you're on a low level, when you walk through the woods you'll encounter rats, about half way through you'll encounter wild dogs - and later still you'll encounter bears. Duh - encounter beast, click click click click, move on. Screw that. let there be dangerous areas and safe areas and areas in between, and when you venture into dangerous areas and you're not strong enough yet - you die. That's how you would build an interesting game world IMO. I cannot more agree about this, I hated the level scaling in Oblivion. What's the point in levelling up if you're not getting legitimately stronger?  There are some good mods which replace the levelling system with a more generic RPG XP system and enemy groupings locked into levels though, so you don't ever come across a super strong rat or a super weak bear. The level scaling was pretty widely panned in Oblivion. More than anything, it was remarkably poorly done. Once you were level 45, you'd watch a bandit wearing Daedric Armor cut down a poor little steel-wearing Legionnaire. It didn't make the slightest bit of sense. Try making it through Kvatch late game without having anyone die. It's hilarious. You're supposed to protect characters so weak they can't as a group face a single one of the opponents you brutally slaughter. One of the most popular mods is still the one that axes that old system. too true. Why would anyone bother being a bandit when a single piece of their armour is worth enough to buy a mansion in a town? It kinda made levelling nearly entirely pointless, and more of a time-suck than anything, the more I think about it. On that note: Thankfully, Skyrim's level scaling is gonna be closer to the Fallout 3 system, which was still pretty broken, although definitely much more useful than Oblivion's. Hopefully there'll be some good mods to clean it up sometime soon after the release, though.

A game shouldn't have to be heavily modded in this way though to improve it.  It should already have a decent levelling system.

The Elder Scrolls IV


Starting the main quest.

Playing this gem right now.....

Edited by TheProgtologist - March 07 2011 at 23:29

Dragon Age 2 out on Friday in Europe.  Out tomorrow in North America.

Let me know how it is, guys.

I think my 4-year old Laptop will just about run it.

Pokemon Black.  Got it the moment of its release.

My used copy of FFXIII is on it's way here!  Haven't played it yet, but I enjoy most of the FF's, so I'm sure it will be good, especially considering I paid $20 for it. 

I'm also playing the add on content in Fallout New Vegas right now and I'm stuck.  I don't know how to make my big, dumb super mutant stay by the switches. 

The last game I played was Metroid: Other M, which is a really mixed bag. The combat is really fun, but the game also features some of the stupidest decisions I've ever seen in video games. It's undestandable that the developers wanted to give Samus more personality and it was fun to see Nintendo make a stab on a more plot heavy game, but unfortunately the plot also features some idiotic moments. I also missed the exploration and the sense of freedom you get in other Metroid games, Other M is as straightforward as it gets. Still, despite it's shortcomings, Other M is a fun game, but nowhere near the sheer awesomeness of the Prime titles or Super Metroid.

James wrote: My mistake.  Yes, the 8th. Has anyone played it yet?  I wouldn't expect anyone to have finished it though.

4/10.

An otherwise decent game marred by some of the most monumentally-poor design decisions I have ever seen. I'll cook up a full review in the future. A word of advice: don't play the game for any other reason than the story. Even Hard mode is a joke since you can just spam AoE on yourself and deplete the health pools of anything in a few seconds. By contrast, Nightmare mode sports some of the most hilariously-bad gameplay mechanics I have ever seen. There are occasions when you are faced with two enemy rogues who will constantly enter stealth and backstab out of it. You cannot detect or harm them while they are in stealth mode, they are invulnerable going in and out of it, and it has no cooldown for them (they can and do use it consecutively such that they are never vulnerable to damage at all). They have massive health pools which, if you do damage them, they will recover with potions (which are instant use). Similarly, enemy mages will wipe out your entire party in 1 second (no, not an exaggeration at all) after warping to areas where you cannot attack them. They aren't nearly as bad as rogues, though, in that they can be flattened with an onslaught of your best attacks before they can escape and do harm. Rogues often cannot be knocked down, even by a full-upgraded Fist of the Maker (the most physical force you can deliver to a target, period). Compare this to your rogues who get stunned or knocked flying by even simple bow attacks.

So, the story. If you don't mind flat characters with no consideration for moral dilemmas (Fenris LOVES putting mages on a leash, but HATES putting anyone else on a leash), a disjointed narrative (Varric must be quite the storyteller to have Cassandra wait 20 hours without interjecting), and some outright retcon (like every bit of the game involving Anders), you'll probably love it. Oh, and the flat obsession with mages and demons. Roughly 80% of the game are quests about mages. Help or kill this apostate, find these people (who were kidnapped by a mage), etc, etc, etc. It gets old. A tiny portion of the population are actually mages, but you just get COVERED in mages and mage talk throughout the game, especially in the second year. It manages to pour tons of mage talk at you without adding the tiniest bit of insight. I mean, unless you absolutely adore mages, you might just continue with the story to make them shut the hell up about mages and demons.

Gamemako wrote: James wrote: My mistake.  Yes, the 8th. Has anyone played it yet?  I wouldn't expect anyone to have finished it though. 4/10. An otherwise decent game marred by some of the most monumentally-poor design decisions I have ever seen. I'll cook up a full review in the future. A word of advice: don't play the game for any other reason than the story. Even Hard mode is a joke since you can just spam AoE on yourself and deplete the health pools of anything in a few seconds. By contrast, Nightmare mode sports some of the most hilariously-bad gameplay mechanics I have ever seen. There are occasions when you are faced with two enemy rogues who will constantly enter stealth and backstab out of it. You cannot detect or harm them while they are in stealth mode, they are invulnerable going in and out of it, and it has no cooldown for them (they can and do use it consecutively such that they are never vulnerable to damage at all). They have massive health pools which, if you do damage them, they will recover with potions (which are instant use). Similarly, enemy mages will wipe out your entire party in 1 second (no, not an exaggeration at all) after warping to areas where you cannot attack them. They aren't nearly as bad as rogues, though, in that they can be flattened with an onslaught of your best attacks before they can escape and do harm. Rogues often cannot be knocked down, even by a full-upgraded Fist of the Maker (the most physical force you can deliver to a target, period). Compare this to your rogues who get stunned or knocked flying by even simple bow attacks. So, the story. If you don't mind flat characters with no consideration for moral dilemmas (Fenris LOVES putting mages on a leash, but HATES putting anyone else on a leash), a disjointed narrative (Varric must be quite the storyteller to have Cassandra wait 20 hours without interjecting), and some outright retcon (like every bit of the game involving Anders), you'll probably love it. Oh, and the flat obsession with mages and demons. Roughly 80% of the game are quests about mages. Help or kill this apostate, find these people (who were kidnapped by a mage), etc, etc, etc. It gets old. A tiny portion of the population are actually mages, but you just get COVERED in mages and mage talk throughout the game, especially in the second year. It manages to pour tons of mage talk at you without adding the tiniest bit of insight. I mean, unless you absolutely adore mages, you might just continue with the story to make them shut the hell up about mages and demons.

Hmmm.

PC or console?  Just curious.

This is why I'll wait for patches.  Some of the game mechanic issues may get sorted out.  I bought it on Friday and I've not even installed it yet.

Do you know roughly how much HDD space it needs?  I have about 20 gb left.  I read an minimal install is about 9 gb but I don't want my laptop to slow down too much due to lack of HDD space.

And I rarely play mages.  I'm one of those boring people who just like to bash with melée weapons.

Pokemon Blue. YES.