FF16 was so aggressively average in every aspect outside of spectacle on top of hating women to a degree I've not seen in a game in a minute and I'm pretty happy to see this second 7R entry is nothing like it.
+1
MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
Overwhelmingly I think the sentiment from FF7R is "Tifa and Jessie and Aerith are great", in fact
+1
The JudgeThe Terwilliger CurvesRegistered Userregular
I was meaning to write up a post about Last Epoch, I've been very excited for it and have been waiting for it to leave Early Access for a long time. I played it a bit in EA about 2 years ago but refunded it, not because it was bad but because I wanted to wait until it had more content. Also I met a couple of the devs at PAX East back in 2020 and I promised I would get it so now I'm on the hook for it haha. (Definitely buying it this week if I can pull myself away from Balatro and the new season of Fortnite Festival)
I have played it a bit and watched a ton, and yeah it's a midpoint between D3 and PoE. It has a good portion of the interesting skill customization and build creativity of Path of Exile, but the big thing is almost everything* about your character can be instantly respecced at any time, meaning you can actually do a ton of experimenting or optimizing without having to farm or buy a bunch of currency or just rerolling a new character. Changing your passive skill tree, which unlocks new active skills and gives stats and other benefits, just costs some gold, while swapping and changing your skills (and their upgrades) just costs a little bit of time. (Skills level up as you use them and unlock points on their own skill tree that enhance or change how they work, similar to PoE's Gem system but less complex and with no gear requirements, respeccing delevels the skill but gives it bonus XP until you get back to the level it was at and as you level your character up the minimum level it will be deleveled to gets higher as well so you don't lose as much power and get back to full power faster) You can try so many more skills and upgrades and builds whenever you want, but there's still some amount of friction unlike D3 and D4, which the ARPG nerd in me appreciates tbh.
The loot system is really cool too, for a couple reasons. First off, there's no more identifying loot: all items drop automatically identified, meaning you don't need any scrolls, or Deckard Caine, or anything. This means that loot is immediately usable, but also it means you can use the game's built-in and extremely robust filter system to hide any loot you don't care about and show and highlight the exact stuff you want. It's easy to setup too, there's even tools that will let you import or create a character build and it will generate a filter file for you that you just put in your game's filter folder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YPVlBM4j0c
The other thing is the game's crafting system, which is somewhat complex yes but very rewarding. Every non-Unique armor, weapon, and piece of jewelry can be crafted, as they all drop with a random amount of Forging Potential built in to the item (basically crafting points). You get ability shards (which allow you to add or enhance the affixes on an item) along with runes (that modify the item in various ways, like randomizing affixes, destroying the item and getting it's affixes as ability shards, removing affixes to make room for new ones, etc.) as loot all the time, and you combine those with your gear to change, add, remove, or enhance it's prefix and suffix modifiers in various ways. Each time you make a change to an item it costs a random amount of Forging Potential depending on the type of craft you do and the item's strength; when the FP is gone the item is no longer craftable. You can see how much FP the craft will take ahead of time as a range, for example adding a new prefix will take (just throwing out some numbers I've seen) between 1-12 FP on an item that might only have 9 available. If you're lucky, you can do tons of crafts on an item to perfect it, or take a low-level item you like a lot and keep upgrading it for a long time. (Of course the opposite is true as well, sometimes the game just drains all the FP after like 2 or 3 crafts, but hey that's ARPGs: live by the RNG, die by the RNG) This means that if you're crafty (eh? eh?) you can take what is a very weak item for your character and turn it into a near-perfectly statted item, or easily fix something that was great but missing just that last piece to make it perfect. You can craft at any time too, just like the game's ability and skill systems it means you have tons of flexibility to change things whenever you want to experiment.
*the only things that you can't change are your base class and your selected Mastery, basically a subclass you pick early on in the campaign that gives you new abilities and passives but locks you out of some others
FF16 was so aggressively average in every aspect outside of spectacle on top of hating women to a degree I've not seen in a game in a minute and I'm pretty happy to see this second 7R entry is nothing like it.
Maehiro is somewhat infamous for conspicuously marginalizing women in his writing. Fortunately he's nowhere near any of the 7s so I wasn't too concerned that it would end up the same way.
Sony has revealed a number of new and upcoming PlayStation VR2 games and announced plans to add PC compatibility at some point in 2024.
Sony is currently testing compatibility with PC, which it said would allow PS VR2 players access to more VR games via PC.
“We’re pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5,” Sony said in a post on PlayStation Blog. “We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates.”
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Woo!
I really do love my PSVR2, and don't regret buying it, but there's a lot of VR experiences that are not on Playstation. Let me use the headset anywhere, and I'll be more than happy.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
YouTube started showing me stuff about Last Epoch last night, a new ARPG (a Diablo-like, if you will) that had its official launch yesterday. I was curious, so I watched a trailer that explained some of the systems, and just... I immediately felt exhausted. I know that (some?) ARPG fans want sophisticated, involved character systems (skill webs, talent nets, item moods, enemy pet peeves, whatever), so they can make unique, personalized characters, suss out which ability combos are especially effective, and so on. For me, though, Diablo 3 has been such a perfect "zone out and decompress at the end of the day" game. Seasoned players lament the fact that in D3, armor sets are so powerful that they basically define playstyles, and are required for actual cohesive builds and end-game play, but for me it's a blessing; it's relatively easy to gear up into a cohesive build (which, granted, you can work on upgrading infinitely), it's easy to pick your handful of skills, and then I can sit back, watch demons go boom, and watch numbers go up.
I watched a "starting guide for Last Epoch" video from a D3 streamer I like, and he said that the game's complexity is the midpoint between D3 and Path of Exile. I'm sure it's easier to acclimate to as you take in the game gradually, during first hours of play and leveling up, but it still seems a bit more complex than what I get from D3. But, I'm kinda of curious, and I'm tempted to give it a try. Has anyone here played it yet? The reactions I've seen online are incredibly positive, and it seems like the game does a lot of things right to improve QoL for ARPG playstiles, but I trust you Gamers more than anyone else online.
Tell you what, the art looks beautiful from a technical excellence perspective, but the art style is the most generic, nondescript thing I've ever seen. At least, in the clips I've watched.
It's really not that complicated. There's no esoteric interactions or anything like that. It might seem like a lot at a glance, but the game does a pretty good job of easing you in. Plus, it's kinda hard to make a bad build, the synergies between skills are pretty apparent. The tooltips are also very informative.
To be perfectly honest, a big part of it is that I am not sure that at this point in my life, I have the mental capability to take in information from that many sources and combine it together into something useful. Although it sounds like you might be able to go "I like skill X, let me just look for all the things that involve skill X".
Anyway, this is probably not even all that relevant, because I'm just gonna end up copying a build from the Internet anyway!
I take it you've played the game? Did you enjoy it?
I got it in Early Access and generally it feels like a "pick what you like, and go all the way on that" type of setup. Generally you only feel weak if you're all across the board. I think the complexity that you're seeing is more just, there are a bunch of different ways you can go (with masteries and then within masteries different choices). That's where the PoE stuff comes in, lots of individual customization.
But I haven't felt the PoE "oops, did your build wrong" yet from playing. I just pick a starter with an idea of what Mastery I want, and then along the way I dig into the skills that feel right.
Overwhelmingly I think the sentiment from FF7R is "Tifa and Jessie and Aerith are great", in fact
Barret is also pretty great, I didn't like his direction in the early chapters but it got better or I got used to it. I am a known ff7 liker so me liking the characters from ff7 (only, the spinoffs are all shit) is not a surprise though.
i was going to saw "sounds like a Warhammer 40k Primarch" and then I started thinking about how a bunch of foot diseases and conditions kind of sound like Primarch names.
i was going to saw "sounds like a Warhammer 40k Primarch" and then I started thinking about how a bunch of foot diseases and conditions kind of sound like Primarch names.
And then there's Hammertoe, which sounds like a good name for an Ork warlord.
primarch names aren't even that clever or obscure
theres a guy named the literal taxonomic name for a raven, corvus corax, who is good at stealth and has a jetpack
theres a hot jesus guy who is also secretly a vampire guy named sanguinius
then theres the guy who is really angry
named angron
+5
PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
then theres alpharius, who is the head of the alpha legion, guess which legion number they are
0
3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
i was going to saw "sounds like a Warhammer 40k Primarch" and then I started thinking about how a bunch of foot diseases and conditions kind of sound like Primarch names.
And then there's Hammertoe, which sounds like a good name for an Ork warlord.
primarch names aren't even that clever or obscure
theres a guy named the literal taxonomic name for a raven, corvus corax, who is good at stealth and has a jetpack
theres a hot jesus guy who is also secretly a vampire guy named sanguinius
then theres the guy who is really angry
named angron
Look, I'm just trying to inject some class into the ranks. They can't all be Lion El'Johnson.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
i was going to saw "sounds like a Warhammer 40k Primarch" and then I started thinking about how a bunch of foot diseases and conditions kind of sound like Primarch names.
And then there's Hammertoe, which sounds like a good name for an Ork warlord.
primarch names aren't even that clever or obscure
theres a guy named the literal taxonomic name for a raven, corvus corax, who is good at stealth and has a jetpack
theres a hot jesus guy who is also secretly a vampire guy named sanguinius
then theres the guy who is really angry
named angron
I've said this in another thread I'm sure but calling traitor Adeptus Mechanicus members Hereteks is simultaneously the dumbest and best thing they could have done.
Sony has revealed a number of new and upcoming PlayStation VR2 games and announced plans to add PC compatibility at some point in 2024.
Sony is currently testing compatibility with PC, which it said would allow PS VR2 players access to more VR games via PC.
“We’re pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5,” Sony said in a post on PlayStation Blog. “We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates.”
interesting
This is awesome! Everything I've heard and read is that the PSVR2 is one of the best bang for your buck headsets out there right now (unless you require wireless). But if I can't use it to play HL: Alyx or any of the other PC VR games I want to try, it's a non-starter.
Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
+1
PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
i was going to saw "sounds like a Warhammer 40k Primarch" and then I started thinking about how a bunch of foot diseases and conditions kind of sound like Primarch names.
You got...
Morton Neuroma
I mean that's just a Demon Prince of Nurgle, no way it isn't.
Don’t forget the Iron Hand’s Primarch, Ferrus Manus
he also had iron hands too
0
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Pacific Drive is a blast so far. Super atmospheric! This car is a crapshack but I'll hopefully start getting some upgrades soon. Making myself advance the plot because I think some stuff is still gated, but man just doing these excursions into the zone is great fun so far.
Reviews of Solium Infernum are positive! I'm going to try that this weekend. I may start a thread to see if we can get an async game going. There's technically the option to play a couple turns a week for a year.
Do what you can to elect Harris/Walz and downticket Dem candidates in your area by doorknocking, phonebanking, or postcarding: https://www.mobilize.us/
And then there's Hammertoe, which sounds like a good name for an Ork warboss.
I was born with a hammertoe! It's a pain in the arse. Or was - you wouldn't think a toe curled over and hanging down world be a problem. You'd be wrong.
Thankfully it was fixed by surgery - they cut the tendon so the toe unfurls as it were.
A side effect is I've got very dexterous feet that I can basically use as a second set of hands - I can even write (poorly) with a pen held in my foot. Mostly though I just use them to grab something on the floor and pass it up to my hands without bending down
Sony has revealed a number of new and upcoming PlayStation VR2 games and announced plans to add PC compatibility at some point in 2024.
Sony is currently testing compatibility with PC, which it said would allow PS VR2 players access to more VR games via PC.
“We’re pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5,” Sony said in a post on PlayStation Blog. “We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates.”
interesting
If this means I could use it to play half-life alyx I might get it
Posts
Grim Dawn in complexity you say? Only in that aspect?
I'm not sure what you mean, sorry.
I have played it a bit and watched a ton, and yeah it's a midpoint between D3 and PoE. It has a good portion of the interesting skill customization and build creativity of Path of Exile, but the big thing is almost everything* about your character can be instantly respecced at any time, meaning you can actually do a ton of experimenting or optimizing without having to farm or buy a bunch of currency or just rerolling a new character. Changing your passive skill tree, which unlocks new active skills and gives stats and other benefits, just costs some gold, while swapping and changing your skills (and their upgrades) just costs a little bit of time. (Skills level up as you use them and unlock points on their own skill tree that enhance or change how they work, similar to PoE's Gem system but less complex and with no gear requirements, respeccing delevels the skill but gives it bonus XP until you get back to the level it was at and as you level your character up the minimum level it will be deleveled to gets higher as well so you don't lose as much power and get back to full power faster) You can try so many more skills and upgrades and builds whenever you want, but there's still some amount of friction unlike D3 and D4, which the ARPG nerd in me appreciates tbh.
The loot system is really cool too, for a couple reasons. First off, there's no more identifying loot: all items drop automatically identified, meaning you don't need any scrolls, or Deckard Caine, or anything. This means that loot is immediately usable, but also it means you can use the game's built-in and extremely robust filter system to hide any loot you don't care about and show and highlight the exact stuff you want. It's easy to setup too, there's even tools that will let you import or create a character build and it will generate a filter file for you that you just put in your game's filter folder:
The other thing is the game's crafting system, which is somewhat complex yes but very rewarding. Every non-Unique armor, weapon, and piece of jewelry can be crafted, as they all drop with a random amount of Forging Potential built in to the item (basically crafting points). You get ability shards (which allow you to add or enhance the affixes on an item) along with runes (that modify the item in various ways, like randomizing affixes, destroying the item and getting it's affixes as ability shards, removing affixes to make room for new ones, etc.) as loot all the time, and you combine those with your gear to change, add, remove, or enhance it's prefix and suffix modifiers in various ways. Each time you make a change to an item it costs a random amount of Forging Potential depending on the type of craft you do and the item's strength; when the FP is gone the item is no longer craftable. You can see how much FP the craft will take ahead of time as a range, for example adding a new prefix will take (just throwing out some numbers I've seen) between 1-12 FP on an item that might only have 9 available. If you're lucky, you can do tons of crafts on an item to perfect it, or take a low-level item you like a lot and keep upgrading it for a long time. (Of course the opposite is true as well, sometimes the game just drains all the FP after like 2 or 3 crafts, but hey that's ARPGs: live by the RNG, die by the RNG) This means that if you're crafty (eh? eh?) you can take what is a very weak item for your character and turn it into a near-perfectly statted item, or easily fix something that was great but missing just that last piece to make it perfect. You can craft at any time too, just like the game's ability and skill systems it means you have tons of flexibility to change things whenever you want to experiment.
*the only things that you can't change are your base class and your selected Mastery, basically a subclass you pick early on in the campaign that gives you new abilities and passives but locks you out of some others
3DS Friend Code: 0216-0898-6512
Switch Friend Code: SW-7437-1538-7786
Maehiro is somewhat infamous for conspicuously marginalizing women in his writing. Fortunately he's nowhere near any of the 7s so I wasn't too concerned that it would end up the same way.
Folks seem to like it
Better than Triple Triad? I like the sound of that
I have significant beef with 16 because of how much it hates women, but even beyond that, lord that game is just so po-faced.
interesting
I really do love my PSVR2, and don't regret buying it, but there's a lot of VR experiences that are not on Playstation. Let me use the headset anywhere, and I'll be more than happy.
I got it in Early Access and generally it feels like a "pick what you like, and go all the way on that" type of setup. Generally you only feel weak if you're all across the board. I think the complexity that you're seeing is more just, there are a bunch of different ways you can go (with masteries and then within masteries different choices). That's where the PoE stuff comes in, lots of individual customization.
But I haven't felt the PoE "oops, did your build wrong" yet from playing. I just pick a starter with an idea of what Mastery I want, and then along the way I dig into the skills that feel right.
Barret is also pretty great, I didn't like his direction in the early chapters but it got better or I got used to it. I am a known ff7 liker so me liking the characters from ff7 (only, the spinoffs are all shit) is not a surprise though.
Some sort of dreadful foot lesion I think
Sorry, I perk up when I hear Grim Dawn and poorly phrased that question. Meant to ask In What Aspect.
But I just checked the spec requirements and it's a pointless question anyway until I upgrade my laptop (hopefully later this year).
i was going to saw "sounds like a Warhammer 40k Primarch" and then I started thinking about how a bunch of foot diseases and conditions kind of sound like Primarch names.
You got...
Plantar Fasciitis
Sesa Moiditis
Morton Neuroma
Achilles Tendinopathy
Hallux Rigidus
And then there's Hammertoe, which sounds like a good name for an Ork warboss.
primarch names aren't even that clever or obscure
theres a guy named the literal taxonomic name for a raven, corvus corax, who is good at stealth and has a jetpack
theres a hot jesus guy who is also secretly a vampire guy named sanguinius
then theres the guy who is really angry
named angron
Oh, I mean in terms of skill/build complexity. It's not PoE's huge grid, but it's more complicated than D3/D4/Torchlight.
Number Rius
Look, I'm just trying to inject some class into the ranks. They can't all be Lion El'Johnson.
I've said this in another thread I'm sure but calling traitor Adeptus Mechanicus members Hereteks is simultaneously the dumbest and best thing they could have done.
This is awesome! Everything I've heard and read is that the PSVR2 is one of the best bang for your buck headsets out there right now (unless you require wireless). But if I can't use it to play HL: Alyx or any of the other PC VR games I want to try, it's a non-starter.
no, leman russ is the space wolves primarch who looks like a viking (get it the rus)
he also had iron hands too
I was born with a hammertoe! It's a pain in the arse. Or was - you wouldn't think a toe curled over and hanging down world be a problem. You'd be wrong.
Thankfully it was fixed by surgery - they cut the tendon so the toe unfurls as it were.
A side effect is I've got very dexterous feet that I can basically use as a second set of hands - I can even write (poorly) with a pen held in my foot. Mostly though I just use them to grab something on the floor and pass it up to my hands without bending down
Bodies are fucking werid
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/thezombiepenguin/
Switch: 0293 6817 9891
If this means I could use it to play half-life alyx I might get it