I do agree that a lot of the find-the-symbols puzzles felt like an afterthought, but overall they didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the game. The story and presentation were fantastic and I thought the blind trial was extremely well done and one of my favourite video game levels.
I could be mistaken, as I don’t really play competitive games anymore. I thought between Overwatch, Valorant, Apex, The Finals and what have you there was lots of stiff competition.
I had a lot of good times and even more bad times with DotA over the years, until I finally freed myself from it years ago.
IceFrog being behind this backed by Valve bodes well, and I think the premise of an FPS/MOBA hybrid has promise, despite the market being insanely oversaturated already.
I’m not really interested in competitive games these days, but I hope it’ll be good to watch at least. Following The International was fun even after I quit DotA.
Thank you for the extremely comprehensive run-down! I don’t think I’ve ever had it laid out so clearly before.
I think I’ll keep them on my tentative “to-do” list, but maybe not at the highest priority. I loved Origins but with how it ends I don’t have a super pressing need to continue the story immediately. There are so many good games out there, and more keep being released. It’s hard to find time for all of them. I’m really looking forward to Hellblade 2 next.
I think I will get around to them at some point, though. Exporting my save through all three games and seeing callbacks and consequences does sound interesting, and I’ve heard that is something that does happen.
Interesting. So the side content is mostly uninteresting, I take it?
I still have only played DA:O, which I really liked. I still haven’t played the sequels, would you say they’re still worthwhile or is it for the best to leave the story at the end of Origins?
I think DS3 is great in its own way and has some awesome areas, but it’s hard to compare anything to the first half of Dark Souls. That level design is just something else.
What I like about DS3 compared to ER is there are a lot less delayed attacks and fakeouts. I get that FromSoft needs to constantly up the challenge but it makes it harder to get the same kind of enjoyable combat flow, at least for me. DS3 has some bosses that are just so enjoyable, even though they’re not super hard.
Oh and, don’t know if you’ve done them yet but the DLCs should be more challenging than the main game, if that’s what you’re after.
Having the exact same experience, though I’ve only barely started the PL storyline. The rebalance and revamped perk tree has created so many cool builds and so many fun ways to play. The game is just a joy to play honestly.
I think OWB is many people’s favourite, and Honest Hearts is certainly the weakest DLC. It does have some cool lore and story bits to it though, and the environmental storytelling with the survivalist is very neat. And I think Joshua Graham is a great character.
I hope you come back and do Lonesome Road too, I absolutely love it and think the level design and environments are outstanding.
I’m so excited for this game. I thought the first game was really interesting and did really well with a limited budget, and really showed a lot of potential.
Hopefully a bigger budget, bigger scope and expanded combat can have this game really blossom.
This is the correct answer I think. They’re also not interested in releasing sub-par games, and again like you say they don’t need to release games at all to make money anymore. So if they’re not that interested and haven’t come up with anything conceptually/mechanically that reaches the high bar they’ve set for themselves, it makes more sense to scrap/postpone.
Their reputation is much more important, and they’re just not going to half-ass Half Life 3. It will come out when they feel they have something truly extraordinary, or it won’t come out at all.
Started playing Phantom Liberty today after having finally finalized my modlist. Still hunting down the source of some crashing, but still.
Haven’t played Cyberpunk since 1.63, and I am loving the changes so far. Very cool builds available with the perk tree changes, I can already tell I will probably do another full playthrough with a different build once I’ve ran through Phantom Liberty. Right now I’m playing a Tech/Body/Reflexes spec going full into explosives, combined with Sandevistan, Kerenzikov and all the dashing/mid-air stuff. It’s definitely a lot of fun, bouncing around the battlefield like a Gummi Bear on speed while everyone around you explodes and burns.
I think this has to be in the contention for most overrated game of all time.
Before you grab your pitchfork, I’m not saying it’s a bad game. It’s fine. The combat is solid, the boss fights are fun and it’s very pretty. Was very well optimised too, ran like a dream on an old, fat first gen PS4.
It’s not the greatest game of all time though, or anything close to it. The open world is your garden variety UbiSoft style, the tone and the writing is all in a stoic monotone with only crumbs of Kenji to break it up, and the quest design is uninspiring at best and awful at worst. On top of it all the game is way too long considering those flaws.
I know it’s been hyped up, but I still recommend waiting for a sale.
I’m actually happy to hear that. I was afraid it would take too much inspiration from the Bethesda games, but sounds like maybe they looked more at Fallout 1 and 2, which would be just what I hoped they would.
I think Uematsu is the absolute GOAT, but XV had a great soundtrack. Not on Uematsu level of memorable, but still very good.
The leitmotif work with Valse di Fantastica/Sunset Waltz/Dewdrops at Dawn always was my favourite, but Ardyn has a nice theme too. Loved when the second version of his theme came in towards the end of the game.