Video Games

[Wolfgang]

Horizon Forbidden West

Just finished the game. The final mission wasn't so bad. A couple of boss fights but they weren't too painful (on Normal difficulty). I did every quest in the game except for two. I didn't finish the arena or the melee pit. I didn't care for those arena-like competitions. I now know the premise for Horizon 3 because Horizon 2 ended with a sort-of cliffhanger.

I watched the entirety of the end credit sequence because it was spectacular.

I can now do either New Game+ or start a brand new game. There are new weapons available in New Game+ but, honestly, I'm not sure I'm all that eager to get them. What I have currently is pretty powerful. I might just start a brand new game with all the early game loser weapons and gear. There's something about starting out weak that appeals to me more than starting out super-powerful.

[Wolfgang]

Horizon Forbidden West

Now, I'm sad that the game has ended. However, there are many parts of this game I didn't like:

Certain areas on the map
Certain weapons
Certain armor
The melee combat mechanics
Skill tree
Some cutscenes
Some mission designs
The dialogue wheels -- Gawd...I hated these

The entire first half of this game and the entire map east of California seemed like the first game (Horizon Zero Dawn).

Nevertheless, I'm pleased with my overall game experience.

[Wolfgang]

Horizon Forbidden West

There's one "choice" I initially regretted but got over it later. In one of the last main missions, you fight Regalla. If you elect to kill her, you get her pretty sweet sharpshot bow (sniper bow), which I didn't know beforehand. However, if you keep her alive, you get a plain armor (which I didn't use at all) but she'll join you in the final mission where you get an extra cutscene involving Regalla. I did the latter and though I regretted not getting the sharpshot bow, I felt good about watching this extra cutscene. So, pro and con.

[Wolfgang]

Horizon Forbidden West

I'd forgotten how lengthy the first and second missions were. The first is your basic tutorial mission while the second is an "interlude" (which is basically code for "nothing really happens except dialogue wheels in between narrative cutscenes"). I started at 11:00 PM and by the time I was done with them, it was 1:30 AM.

Holy batf---!

[Wolfgang]

Horizon Forbidden West

I just looked at the stats from my last two playthroughs. In my first playthrough, I put in 147 hours although I'd say it was more like 140 because I believe the game counts time when it's on PAUSE. But 140 is still a lot of hours. But I did almost everything in the game.

In my current playthrough (second playthrough), I put in 17 hours for only 16% game progression. My approach in the second playthrough is to play with only the purple weapons and armor, not the superior legendary (orange) ones. But I'm already getting bored because...been there done that.

*sigh*

[mikegarrison]

Nov 7, 2024 23:18:59 GMT -5 Wolfgang said:

Horizon Forbidden West

I just looked at the stats from my last two playthroughs. In my first playthrough, I put in 147 hours although I'd say it was more like 140 because I believe the game counts time when it's on PAUSE. But 140 is still a lot of hours. But I did almost everything in the game.

In my current playthrough (second playthrough), I put in 17 hours for only 16% game progression. My approach in the second playthrough is to play with only the purple weapons and armor, not the superior legendary (orange) ones. But I'm already getting bored because...been there done that.

*sigh*

Is there anything you can really do to change things around?

In a game like Civ, you can play as a different nation, with a different map, against different AI opponents, etc. Highly repeatable.

In a game like BG3, you have very, very many options of how to do things, so you can play it a dozen times and still have new things happen that change your experience. Plus, everything is RNG, so some fights can be desperately hard one time through and easy the next time, or you can avoid a certain fight by talking your way out of it almost every time you play, but sometimes without warning you fail your talking dice rolls and a fight suddenly breaks out.

And then there are some games where, basically, every playthrough is pretty similar to every other one, especially if you have a preferred playstyle that you keep using.

---

On this subject, just yesterday I took one of the HUGE divergent paths in BG3 for the first time. There is a reason why I never took it before and probably won't take it again.

Early in the game you are essentially presented with a situation where there are a bunch of refugees living with a bunch of druids, and it's very tense. There is also a camp of goblins that is threatening both of them.

You can resolve the situation inside the Grove between the druids and refugees, and then defeat the goblins so that the refugees can move on. Or you can just defeat the goblins, and the refugees move on, so it doesn't really matter if you resolve the tensions. Or you can help the tensions boil over and set the druids and the refugees fighting with each other (a path I have yet to take). Or ... you can side with the goblins.

I had never sided with the goblins until I finally tried it last night. It's ... horrible.

You meet all these refugees. You know their names. If you have played the game before, you know their stories. Some you like. Some you may not. Most of them are not fighters or warriors, just regular people. And when you side with the goblins, you kill them all.

First there is a fight at the gate, with their warriors. Who are suddenly appalled to find that you are betraying them. (One of my party members refused this treachery, so I had to kill him too.) Not so bad, but not emotionally easy.

Then you fight a second line of them, not quite as strong but they still fight back. By this time you might be feeling pretty low. Then you fight the druids, who can fight back, but they still trusted you.

And then ... you find where the civilians are hiding. They are so frightened that they can't move. They typically die to a single hit, or two at most. And you have to kill all of them, even though they are essentially helpless to fight back. It's just, OMG, so very, very, very evil. (The only thing they don't make/let(?) you do is kill the kids. The goblins do that off-screen, but you can still find all their bodies.)

And then you go to a party with the goblins, where they celebrate their victory and praise your role in it.

Some games have "an evil path", but most of them don't rub your face in just exactly what that means and force you to do it like this.

[mln59]

prince of persia: the lost crown

the game has amulets that the player can equip to give buffs. i found one that replenishes health on a successful parry. this is an absolute game changer as the game is kinda forgiving with the parry window.

i spent some resources to upgrade this amulet to the max and it has saved my butt on more than one occasion.

[Wolfgang]

Horizon Forbidden West

Still on my second playthrough. At times, the game is boring because I've done everything already in my first playthrough. However, I'm trying to change things up by, for example, using different weapons. I've grown to love the spear throwing game mechanic. It's a pretty devastating attack. Also, when the machine monsters are down, I turn to my boltblaster to blast them with a barrage of bolts to finish them off. It's kinda like a machine gun.

I'm also using only purple and blue weapons -- lower levels than the superior legendary (orange) weapons.

[Wolfgang]

Red Dead Redemption 2

I played a couple of hours a few days ago. I feel it’s going to be a good game, but I’m not in the mood for a super long game where you’re required to do a lot of mundane tasks (as a kind of mini-game). Even online video reviews all talked about the glut of these mundane tasks. I say this even though I didn’t even complete all the tutorial missions.

I feel like playing Watch Dogs Legion or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Something outrageous or fantastical.

[bbg95]

Nov 16, 2024 2:30:53 GMT -5 Wolfgang said:

Red Dead Redemption 2

I played a couple of hours a few days ago. I feel it’s going to be a good game, but I’m not in the mood for a super long game where you’re required to do a lot of mundane tasks (as a kind of mini-game). Even online video reviews all talked about the glut of these mundane tasks. I say this even though I didn’t even complete all the tutorial missions.

I feel like playing Watch Dogs Legion or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Something outrageous or fantastical.

Thing is, most of those tasks in RDR2 are completely unnecessary. You might have to do them once or twice during tutorials, but you can pretty much ignore them after that. Did you buy Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night the last time it was on sale? If so, then I definitely recommend playing it.