Find a new character, Cavas, out in the world and help him fix his decaying memories by delving into them and killing shit (lol) in order to find memory stabilizers, before the entire memory decays and kicks you out
Build your own dungeon with a Carcassone-inspired system, where you find memory fragments as you fix Cavas' memories, then fit them together to create paths to memories full of bosses and special loot. You then run that path, dealing with the difficulty and reward modifiers that the fragments have added, trying to reach the rewards at the end.
Memories drop Fractured items, that have locked item modifiers that can not be changed, allowing you to craft items that can have guaranteed insane stats. Take 3 fractured items you don't like and Synthesize them together to make a new item with a new implicit modifier that stacks on top of all the other modifiers on an item.
A complete balance pass of every spell in the game, full reworks of 3 of them (Storm Burst, Storm Shield, Flame Totem), along with 6 new spells (consisting of 3 new Chaos damage spells and 3 "Holy" spells, i.e. physical damage converted to lightning/fire) and a number of new support gems to customize those spells
The Betrayal system (which was sort of a Nemesis System inspired set of encounters) from the previous expansion is now part of the main game
A bunch of new unique items including some that are really stupid
Before anyone asks, I'm flattered that they'd name the expansion after me.
Dad, get off the internet.
...
I have to thank you, by the way. I played through "Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris" last night and apparently it puts little collectibles (Canopic Jars) into the game where someone on your friends list has died and you can collect them to unlock slightly better versions of guns.
More importantly, though, it really points out that I am walking into a trap when I see a bunch of jars lying around, sorta like bloodstains in the Souls games. It's a neat feature, and I wouldn't have known about it without, uh, without you dying painfully and often.
After that, I loaded up The Division since it's on gamepass now and I'm always embarrassed when something I bought and haven't played yet shows up on gp. The tutorial is... brutal? Brutal is a good word. It took me 5 or 6 goes just to clear the last fight before I could even get into the real game.
The missions I've done since that haven't been too bad so I may stick with it.
I have to thank you, by the way. I played through "Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris" last night and apparently it puts little collectibles (Canopic Jars) into the game where someone on your friends list has died and you can collect them to unlock slightly better versions of guns.
Did I die that much in the game? I suppose I must have then. I went a couple of years, literally, without playing the last twenty minutes of the final encounter of the game because I was playing it co-op.
I was surprised it was even on consoles, but I guess that's easier to do nowadays. Alekine's Gun is literally just Death to Spies 3, based on the series published by 1C (a huge Russian simulator/strategy game publisher). Except the Death to Spies games were always rough around the edges, and not as visually impressive, but its complexity and elaborateness of the missions demanded a lot more thought and quick-thinking potentially than the Htiman or Splinter Cell games it was contemporaneous with, more into the area of PC Rainbow Six titles.
Except Alekine's Gun is desperate to be more accessible, so it becomes a run-and-gun with some basic stealth mechanics, and doesn't look as good as Hitman did in the same time. Even the writing is intended to be much more accessible to American audiences.
The Funhaus guys love it. So much that they even get over the whole "Wait, we're not killing Russians....we are the Russians? Hu-wwwaaaaahhhhh?" aspect.
I have to thank you, by the way. I played through "Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris" last night and apparently it puts little collectibles (Canopic Jars) into the game where someone on your friends list has died and you can collect them to unlock slightly better versions of guns.
Did I die that much in the game? I suppose I must have then. I went a couple of years, literally, without playing the last twenty minutes of the final encounter of the game because I was playing it co-op.
The jars seemed heavily clustered around “and now, spikes from the floor with no adequate warning” which is a pretty understandable thing to die to.
I played the earlier “Guardian of Light” game end to end in couch co-op with a buddy and I really think that’s a better experience than doing everything on your own. Osiris was still fun solo but I get the feeling they tone things down a lot for the single-player.
Though executive blood pressures have got to be high over Anthem in general, given everything riding on it, the mediocre reviews, and the messy-at-best release. All 47 of them.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Nah, combos are a big game mechanic that are incredibly poorly explained. You shouldn't have to do research for that, that's something the game should teach you.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
+5
Sirialisof the Halite Throne.Registered Userregular
I disagree, then again I think gamers require way too many things explained to them, and then complain when a game hand holds them. "Why am I in an intro for 3 hours?"
Like I played in the demo, I had some abilities I didn't know if they primed or detonated, so I attacked enemies and tried different combos to get them working.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I disagree, then again I think gamers require way too many things explained to them, and then complain when a game hand holds them. "Why am I in an intro for 3 hours?"
Like I played in the demo, I had some abilities I didn't know if they primed or detonated, so I attacked enemies and tried different combos to get them working.
naw you're wrong
if the game is about combos and you don't slowly have the game show you combos even exist in the game and explain it, the game fucked up. it doesn't help that half the primer and detonation icons are full on missing from the powers right now, and also those icons aren't explained either.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
People have played and beaten it already. The distinction of "it's not out yet" as justification for it being subpar is completely worthless. It's especially hollow, given the entire industry has run on reviewers being given early copies for decades now.
On top of that, most of the issues I've seen people talking about aren't the kind that'll get fixed in a day one patch.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
I wouldn't say they hide them. But the internet hate machine is up for another bioware product so here we are. I mean like that guy alone attacked bioware and microsoft because both are the punching bag for the nets as of late.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
That...kind of seems like something that should be in the Anthem thread if it isn't already. But it is Xbox related. Even if Ybarra just sounds like someone defending a game he really likes on Twitter, more than anything else. Is there any Xbox exclusive content in Anthem? I honestly don't know, the most I heard of was them showing it off on Xbox One X hardware and letting Microsoft show it at E3, like they did with Kingdom Hearts 3.
I could just be badly informed. I was in the beta or Anthem and both Destiny games. I just came to the conclusion that loot-based shooters are really not for me.
EDIT: XB1X hardware, I meant. Though I think technically the footage came from a PC using Xbox One UI...and Sony reused the same footage for the Playstation 4 trailer. I remember someone forgot to photoshop the UI elements out in a few scenes. Haven't really been following Anthem that closely since then.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
I wouldn't say they hide them. But the internet hate machine is up for another bioware product so here we are. I mean like that guy alone attacked bioware and microsoft because both are the punching bag for the nets as of late.
...or maybe it's because he honestly got annoyed by how Anthem does a bad job of explaining its mechanics, in general? Just throwing that out there.
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
edited February 2019
Honestly with the way the game is set up it's pretty difficult to not trigger a combo even by accident during missions given that the vast majority of abilities prime, detonate, or both
This doesn't excuse how buried the actual tutorial is (mouse-over tooltips should really be a thing these days) but the string of people going "I played 8 hours and have no idea what a combo is" in the replies is... really quite something
Ed: (Particularly as the word "COMBO" pops up when a combo pops off. Like, are some people not in the slightest bit curious)
Honestly with the way the game is set up it's pretty difficult to not trigger a combo even by accident during missions given that the vast majority of abilities prime, detonate, or both
This doesn't excuse how buried the actual tutorial is (mouse-over tooltips should really be a thing these days) but the string of people going "I played 8 hours and have no idea what a combo is" in the replies is... really quite something
I just get reminded all the time that the majority of people who played ME played soldiers for a reason.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
I wouldn't say they hide them. But the internet hate machine is up for another bioware product so here we are. I mean like that guy alone attacked bioware and microsoft because both are the punching bag for the nets as of late.
I would love to have a discussion about recent Bioware games where criticism wasn't immediately dismissed as part of some massive internet hate agenda. There's no good faith conversation to be had there.
Hey, this is Bioware. You be grateful that Anthem doesn't have friendly-fire grenades that stick onto invisible walls when you throw them out of cover, or enemies that fall through level geometry, thereby making them immortal and breaking a quest.
The first Mass Effect game had...issues. They're not even fixed on PC.
Games are bad at explaining things and people hate tutorials. Also, solid work Klepek - you're saying it's not explained unless you read the manual? Who woulda thunk it?
Shit, that's better than Destiny with no manual at all.
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
I wouldn't say they hide them. But the internet hate machine is up for another bioware product so here we are. I mean like that guy alone attacked bioware and microsoft because both are the punching bag for the nets as of late.
I would love to have a discussion about recent Bioware games where criticism wasn't immediately dismissed as part of some massive internet hate agenda. There's no good faith conversation to be had there.
This is a problem. Blizzard's approach to Diablo: Immortal criticism really wasn't helped by taking those positions either.
Honestly with the way the game is set up it's pretty difficult to not trigger a combo even by accident during missions given that the vast majority of abilities prime, detonate, or both
This doesn't excuse how buried the actual tutorial is (mouse-over tooltips should really be a thing these days) but the string of people going "I played 8 hours and have no idea what a combo is" in the replies is... really quite something
You might trigger one by accident, but that doesn't mean you'll know why. Until I looked it up my first thought was that maybe I hit an enemy with one element, and then hit them with another element, and that makes a combo, but that's not it. You need a primer ability and a detonator ability, of which only detonators will be identified as such by their ability description so for primers you either need to google it or guess (and the way you can't fiddle with your loadout mid-mission means guessing is even more annoying than you might expect, and detonators don't mention that they have anything to do with combos so you just have to guess that on your own. Then, to do the combo, you have to inflict a status effect on and enemy with the primer ability, and then hit the enemy with the detonator before it wears off. Also, status effects don't take every time, and I think detonators might not either (maybe I was just messing up with the detonator and not hitting, but I think I was) so even if you've lucked into using the right abilities in the right order within the right window, it still won't always work. There are a lot of things in the way of figuring it out organically.
Also there are some abilities that are just raw damage, not primers or detonators, so since the ability descriptions only identify detonators one who got lucky and equipped a primer and detonator might figure out "okay, if I hit an enemy with this ability and then with this detonator ability, that's what triggers a combo" and then try it out with a different non-detonator ability and end up picking one that doesn't prime. As far as the games telling them there's no difference between the primer and the non-primer so as far as they can tell they must be barking up the wrong tree.
There's probably legitimate discussion to be had that some games have deep systems that can only be deciphered after a lot of time spent in the game playing it; and that sometimes in the fast paced world of game reviews, things can get missed that average players wouldn't.
The VP of Xbox shouldn't be weighing in, most likely
My takeaway from this thread is that I should probably ignore the Anthem thread for a while, and that I should be grateful that the other dude decided that he'd be the one to make/maintain the Anthem threads because he posted his a few seconds before I did.
Also, I think Mike's first tweet as fine, but the second tweet was probably not a good idea. Why address a baity reply like that?
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
0
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
edited February 2019
I think part of that problem with priming and detonating might also be bugs, but hopefully the smoke will clear on that come the Day 1 patch
Also, pretty sure primers are listed on ability properties as are detonators? I definitely saw "primer and detonator" written about an ability in the demo
Eh combos aren't that hard to pull off, and if you're a game reviewer and can't do a bit of basic research into a game than why are a you a game reviewer? And its not officially out on consoles until friday, its on a timed early access release.
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
I wouldn't say they hide them. But the internet hate machine is up for another bioware product so here we are. I mean like that guy alone attacked bioware and microsoft because both are the punching bag for the nets as of late.
I would love to have a discussion about recent Bioware games where criticism wasn't immediately dismissed as part of some massive internet hate agenda. There's no good faith conversation to be had there.
I think there's a middle ground to be had here that a lot of people miss. I do think there are people who are quick to go "oh they're just hating on BioWare like they have been ever since Mass Effect/Dragon Age" etc. But there are also people who go "RIP Bioware" ad nauseum or call upon Anthem as EA/BioWare's death knell as necessary for the health of the videogame industry. [Post meme about anthropomorphised EA shooting BioWare out the back over the corpses of Westwood and Maxis]
I think given how strong Anthem's social media presence has been almost everyone is keenly aware of the game's flaws. Even people I know only tangentially interested in Anthem mostly go "I heard it was shit" when mentioned, and trying to argue a balance between its merits and flaws is an uphill struggle either way.
Ybarra's spiel doesn't help things when some people are already starting to attack it from the "trust Xbox to back a shit game" angle.
Also, I think Mike's first tweet as fine, but the second tweet was probably not a good idea. Why address a baity reply like that?
VP of Xbox acusing reviewers of "whining" because they're negatively reviewing a product he's (tangentially) associated with is not a good look, IMO.
+6
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
Honestly, his second tweet had more ground imo
Yeah people have beelined their way to completion already but EA have always defined this period as Early Access
For comparison, watch some of Phil Spencer's interviews with Jeff Gerstmann at E3. Phil is entirely friendly when he talks about Jeff reviewing Quantum Break and Gears of War Ultimate poorly.
Posts
Dad, get off the internet.
...
I have to thank you, by the way. I played through "Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris" last night and apparently it puts little collectibles (Canopic Jars) into the game where someone on your friends list has died and you can collect them to unlock slightly better versions of guns.
More importantly, though, it really points out that I am walking into a trap when I see a bunch of jars lying around, sorta like bloodstains in the Souls games. It's a neat feature, and I wouldn't have known about it without, uh, without you dying painfully and often.
After that, I loaded up The Division since it's on gamepass now and I'm always embarrassed when something I bought and haven't played yet shows up on gp. The tutorial is... brutal? Brutal is a good word. It took me 5 or 6 goes just to clear the last fight before I could even get into the real game.
The missions I've done since that haven't been too bad so I may stick with it.
You get
- a new gun, the Quackhammer, that fires multi-lock-on explosive ducks
- a new vehicle, the Linebacker, a big armored truck/APC with a turret
- an alternate costume for Jaxon (Terry Crews' character) that gives bonus strength and explosives XP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-CoJYMXrM0I just want to take that sentence out to dinner and treat it like the lady that it is. There is NOTHING wrong with that sentence, at all.
Did I die that much in the game? I suppose I must have then. I went a couple of years, literally, without playing the last twenty minutes of the final encounter of the game because I was playing it co-op.
pleasepaypreacher.net
5 more games coming to Game Pass this month:
Tomorrow the 21st: Headlander, Batman: Return to Arkham, Epic Mickey 2
Thrusday the 28th: Walking Dead Season 2, Alien: Isolation
guess... I'll finally get it.
Except Alekine's Gun is desperate to be more accessible, so it becomes a run-and-gun with some basic stealth mechanics, and doesn't look as good as Hitman did in the same time. Even the writing is intended to be much more accessible to American audiences.
The Funhaus guys love it. So much that they even get over the whole "Wait, we're not killing Russians....we are the Russians? Hu-wwwaaaaahhhhh?" aspect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pXLJq-mksM&list=PLhJTH8dYeuM0JkFUc75TmIq7MUgFrUiLd
The jars seemed heavily clustered around “and now, spikes from the floor with no adequate warning” which is a pretty understandable thing to die to.
I played the earlier “Guardian of Light” game end to end in couch co-op with a buddy and I really think that’s a better experience than doing everything on your own. Osiris was still fun solo but I get the feeling they tone things down a lot for the single-player.
In the meantime, there's a Dreamcast controller that's basically the shape of an Xbox One gamepad.
BOOM YA BURNT SEGA!
pleasepaypreacher.net
(Game has been available on EA's subscription service since last Friday. People have beaten it already.)
Patrick Klepek had a good response to the bit about the mechanics.
Though executive blood pressures have got to be high over Anthem in general, given everything riding on it, the mediocre reviews, and the messy-at-best release. All 47 of them.
pleasepaypreacher.net
If the game hides how to do combos in a hidden tutorial menu that's on the game.
Like I played in the demo, I had some abilities I didn't know if they primed or detonated, so I attacked enemies and tried different combos to get them working.
pleasepaypreacher.net
naw you're wrong
if the game is about combos and you don't slowly have the game show you combos even exist in the game and explain it, the game fucked up. it doesn't help that half the primer and detonation icons are full on missing from the powers right now, and also those icons aren't explained either.
People have played and beaten it already. The distinction of "it's not out yet" as justification for it being subpar is completely worthless. It's especially hollow, given the entire industry has run on reviewers being given early copies for decades now.
On top of that, most of the issues I've seen people talking about aren't the kind that'll get fixed in a day one patch.
I wouldn't say they hide them. But the internet hate machine is up for another bioware product so here we are. I mean like that guy alone attacked bioware and microsoft because both are the punching bag for the nets as of late.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I could just be badly informed. I was in the beta or Anthem and both Destiny games. I just came to the conclusion that loot-based shooters are really not for me.
EDIT: XB1X hardware, I meant. Though I think technically the footage came from a PC using Xbox One UI...and Sony reused the same footage for the Playstation 4 trailer. I remember someone forgot to photoshop the UI elements out in a few scenes. Haven't really been following Anthem that closely since then.
...or maybe it's because he honestly got annoyed by how Anthem does a bad job of explaining its mechanics, in general? Just throwing that out there.
pleasepaypreacher.net
This doesn't excuse how buried the actual tutorial is (mouse-over tooltips should really be a thing these days) but the string of people going "I played 8 hours and have no idea what a combo is" in the replies is... really quite something
Ed: (Particularly as the word "COMBO" pops up when a combo pops off. Like, are some people not in the slightest bit curious)
I just get reminded all the time that the majority of people who played ME played soldiers for a reason.
pleasepaypreacher.net
The first Mass Effect game had...issues. They're not even fixed on PC.
Shit, that's better than Destiny with no manual at all.
This is a problem. Blizzard's approach to Diablo: Immortal criticism really wasn't helped by taking those positions either.
Also there are some abilities that are just raw damage, not primers or detonators, so since the ability descriptions only identify detonators one who got lucky and equipped a primer and detonator might figure out "okay, if I hit an enemy with this ability and then with this detonator ability, that's what triggers a combo" and then try it out with a different non-detonator ability and end up picking one that doesn't prime. As far as the games telling them there's no difference between the primer and the non-primer so as far as they can tell they must be barking up the wrong tree.
The VP of Xbox shouldn't be weighing in, most likely
Also, I think Mike's first tweet as fine, but the second tweet was probably not a good idea. Why address a baity reply like that?
Also, pretty sure primers are listed on ability properties as are detonators? I definitely saw "primer and detonator" written about an ability in the demo
I think there's a middle ground to be had here that a lot of people miss. I do think there are people who are quick to go "oh they're just hating on BioWare like they have been ever since Mass Effect/Dragon Age" etc. But there are also people who go "RIP Bioware" ad nauseum or call upon Anthem as EA/BioWare's death knell as necessary for the health of the videogame industry. [Post meme about anthropomorphised EA shooting BioWare out the back over the corpses of Westwood and Maxis]
I think given how strong Anthem's social media presence has been almost everyone is keenly aware of the game's flaws. Even people I know only tangentially interested in Anthem mostly go "I heard it was shit" when mentioned, and trying to argue a balance between its merits and flaws is an uphill struggle either way.
Ybarra's spiel doesn't help things when some people are already starting to attack it from the "trust Xbox to back a shit game" angle.
Can't wait for YongYea's angle on this one. /s
VP of Xbox acusing reviewers of "whining" because they're negatively reviewing a product he's (tangentially) associated with is not a good look, IMO.
Yeah people have beelined their way to completion already but EA have always defined this period as Early Access
It's semantics but it is what it is