4811 replies to this topic

[Cukeman]

I beat Kid Icarus on the NES first and it was definitely hard, the GB one was easier due to the controls and saving, plus after a couple levels you get enough health upgrades to fuel a rotating shield and strong arrows that fly farther, which makes you quite a powerhouse, you weren't so fortunate on the NES. The bosses do take a ton of hits to bring down, but they're doable.

Edited by Cukeman, 17 August 2017 - 03:29 PM.

[The Satellite]

... I've also been trying to get into Ever Oasis, but it's just not clicking for me. It's not bad, I just am not a fan of it.

I haven't touched the game for a couple of weeks because I'm bad at stuff. I didn't have any problem with it, but I must admit that on the whole it does little to stand apart. It has some good ideas, and it's overall a fun game, but it's ultimately generic at the end of the day. I do need to beat it and I intend to, but...

 

... I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas the last several weeks. I'd gotten it a couple years back in a Steam sale, played a couple hours, but didn't stick with it at the time. I gave it another shot and as it turns out it's one of the best games ever made, or at least one of the best-written. There's just so much to do and so much going on, and a lot of it still manages to be connected in some way; I especially love how the four DLC expansions tie together by the end. It's quickly become one of my favorite games, to the point I'm already working on a second file to try a route I was denied by my path through the first file, as well as do a couple things differently.

 

Except I'm doing it with the Tale of Two Wastelands mod. I ventured through most of the normal path up to Freeside, then I took the train to DC. I'm gonna play through the Fallout 3 story this way (which I've never done before now) as well as all the DLC and do a bit of exploring around as well. I actually started a separate 3 file but unfortunately my save for that got corrupted somehow. I was briefly demotivated but I'm trying again now, and keeping multiple saves just in case—including one back at the train station in case I somehow lose the backup saves, so I can just flip DC the bird and return to the Mojave.

 

Not enjoying 3's writing as much as New Vegas's, and I'm aware of why. For those unaware: Bethesda were not the original creators of Fallout. Interplay/Black Isle Studios were, and they made Fallout 1 and 2 (and a couple spinoffs) before financial trouble led to them selling the IP to Bethesda. Enter Obsidian Entertainment, a team made up of much of the original Fallout staff, who were contracted to make New Vegas. Thus, New Vegas is generally considered more in line with the original games and more by accepted by fans of the latter. Having not played either (but have some interest in), I can't share that sentiment, but I certainly agree that New Vegas is far more well-done than 3 writing-wise. I actually know 3's ending though... and it's kinda trash. Hoping that at least the sidequests are entertaining, because Bethesda's usually good at those.

 

It's fun having ED-E and Boone help me slaughter things in the Capital Wasteland though.

 

Also playing Sonic Mania of course. Having this current Fallout obsession is helpful in playing that game at a more leisurely pace, lest I blow through it in a day or two and have nothing left to do in it.

[Norzan]

I had the same experience with New Vegas. Didn't care for it in my first playthrough, bought the Ultimate Edition a couple of months ago and had a complete 180. It's probably one of my favorite RPGs of all time.

 

Reason Fallout 3's writing feels much weaker is because Bethesda doesn't understand what the series is about. Bethesda thinks Fallout is about shooting stuff and collecting loot without much substance, while the original two Fallouts were much more about the ethics and morals of human civilization in a post-apocalyptic world. That's why New Vegas feels much closer to the originals, because it's about the people and the world and not about when you get loot. 

Edited by Norzan, 17 August 2017 - 07:26 PM.

[The Satellite]

Oh yeah, the moral ambiguity in New Vegas is astounding and challenging, really makes you think. The "morality" in 3 is about as deep as a bottlecap.

[Cukeman]

Finished Echoes again. Love it. Another issue is the camera when you're attacking enemies with the boost ball, and a couple areas you have to go way the heck around for silly obstacles, but still.

Edited by Cukeman, 19 August 2017 - 08:09 PM.

[Castelia]

Replaying the classic Sonic titles until I get Sonic Mania.

[The Satellite]

I was going to and then forgot/ran out of time. Oops. I still might go back to them when I'm done with Mania, but that might not be for a while... Also Fallout is addictive.

[kurt91]

I'm playing the Tale of Two Wastelands mod for Fallout New Vegas (play through New Vegas and Fallout 3 with 1 character), and using a multiple followers mod so I have my own little hit-squad. It's completely overpowered once you start stockpiling the fun weapons and armor, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I haven't gotten to the Mojave Wasteland yet, so my current team consists of Jericho, Charon, Sergeant (Mr. Gutsy robot), and Dogmeat. Since I have enough people for it, I've got my two "human" followers decked out in Mechanist and AntAgonizer costumes, with somewhat matching weapons. AntAgonist has the Ripper I got from the original, Mechanist is packing a Minigun. I'm carrying a scoped weapon for long-range, so my team can pretty much take out anything short of a Deathclaw without any problems. (Actually, as long as Dogmeat acts as a distraction, we can take out a single Deathclaw at a time. Still don't think we're cut out for groups of them yet.) Again, totally overpowered, but still a lot of fun.

 

I've played both FO3 and New Vegas before, but I didn't have any of the DLC back then. I also had problems with FO3 crashing every so often, and ended up just bee-lining the main quest and skipping everything else. I know of Fawkes, but are there any other followers that I should look out for in the Capital Wasteland? (Oh man, I just realized. Once I get Boone, game over. I pretty much win at that point.)

[Nicholas Steel]

Limiting Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas (and most Bethesda games before the 64bit version of Skyrim: Special Edition that utilize Gamebryo or a derivative of it) will exhibit intermittent crashing if they're allowed to utilize more than 2 Logical CPU Cores.

Edited by Nicholas Steel, 20 August 2017 - 06:51 AM.

[Cukeman]

Playing some Kirby's Blockball Land. I still remember when I got it for Christmas back in the day. Kirby + Arkanoid? I knew I'd love it. I also like replaying levels to break the default high scores. It's rewarding for the most part (it's skill, but part luck) and it makes you feel like points actually matter and mean something for once- a feat few games manage to pull off.

[Titanium Justice]

Beat Final Fantasy XIII-2 yesterday. I must say, it was for the most part a big improvement over the first XIII. The biggest drawback, however, was that the story wasn't all that good, and as a sequel felt incredibly tacked on.
Still playing Final Fantasy XII, and a rom of Final Fantasy V, but between these I'll also try to chip away at Lightning Returns and see if it's any good.

[Nicholas Steel]

Final Fantasy 13-2, I can manage to get very far in the game but then I start to struggle in the combat and I dunno why. I assume I'm leveling my characters poorly which is infuriating since you can't undo leveling decisions iirc. I think I'd need to follow a leveling guide to finally beat the damn thing.

 

I enjoyed the story in the game and hate the really, really long load times even when it's installed to the Xbox 360's HDD. I bought and tried the PC version but it has various bugs and issues, like opaque rain that makes the game look like a CRT TV that is poorly tuned in to a TV channel and various performance issues.

Edited by Nicholas Steel, 20 August 2017 - 12:30 PM.

[The Satellite]

I also had problems with FO3 crashing every so often, and ended up just bee-lining the main quest and skipping everything else.

That's me right now. Things got better since I turned down some graphics settings, which is odd because I didn't need to do any of that for New Vegas and rarely ever had issue with it. But yeah, I decided I basically want to bumrush the main quest, cherrypick the sidequests left I want to do (like the bobbleheads), do the DLCs, then continue my Mojave scouring.

[ywkls]

Beat Final Fantasy XIII-2 yesterday. I must say, it was for the most part a big improvement over the first XIII. The biggest drawback, however, was that the story wasn't all that good, and as a sequel felt incredibly tacked on.
Still playing Final Fantasy XII, and a rom of Final Fantasy V, but between these I'll also try to chip away at Lightning Returns and see if it's any good.

 

The forcing of Lightning Returns on those who play XIII-2 really irked me. I love XIII-2, but I hate how it ended.

 

Lightning Returns itself is very neatly done, with lots of cool outfits and quests. The change-up in how the battle system works takes a bit of getting used to; but once you are, it's a lot of fun.

 

I didn't like its ending either, so I just kept the original FF XIII.

 

Just completed the main story of FF XII: The Zodiac Age. I'd beaten the original before, but this was the first time on either version where I was able to get basically everything. Had a lot more fun with it than previously too.

[kurt91]

That's me right now. Things got better since I turned down some graphics settings, which is odd because I didn't need to do any of that for New Vegas and rarely ever had issue with it. But yeah, I decided I basically want to bumrush the main quest, cherrypick the sidequests left I want to do (like the bobbleheads), do the DLCs, then continue my Mojave scouring.

Yeah, New Vegas works just fine, but FO3 constantly crashes. I remember reading that it had to do with running out of memory, so I turned off the texture pack that I had been using, thinking that it would help. It didn't, and it kept crashing just as frequently.

 

If you can get New Vegas to run on your computer without the same problems, I would recommend playing TTW. You just download an installer, and tell it where FO3 and New Vegas are located on your computer. (Make sure to go to their folders and make it so they are NOT "read only"!) Let the installer do it's thing, and you'll get an esm/esp file that you can add to your game like any other mod. "Fallout Mod Manager" works perfectly, since using it is as simple as point it at the mod file and you're done. "Nexus Mod Manager" isn't very good at larger files, and isn't the best choice.

 

You get FO3 using the New Vegas version of the engine, and it will run just as stable as NV does normally. On top of that, any NV mod should work just fine, and the few that don't have patches or compatible versions on the TTW site, so mods like "Project Nevada" are available. Furthermore, you can also uses FO3 mods, if you're willing to take a couple steps to convert them. I haven't done it myself, but it looks as simple as opening the mod file in the Creation Kit, and saving it in the NV format. Also, you still get all of the DLC for both games available to you, you can pick which storyline you want to start the game with, and you can travel between wastelands whenever you want via train.

 

The developers even went so far as to make sure that the NV mechanics are fully working in the FO3 wasteland. All of the equipment is spread throughout both game worlds, and the Capital Wasteland has had the special workbenches like the Reloading Bench added throughout the world. Every campfire can be activated for cooking, as well as a large number of ovens converted into cooking stations. I don't recall if FO3 had implants, but if it didn't, those have also been added. (Although I'm using Project Nevada, so those changes were also spread throughout both games.)