Caligula Effect is more persona-like
Lost Dimension is 3D dungeon crawler structure but turnbased combat IIRC
Crystar and Alliance both more classic JRPGs
Community MetaSteam | May 2020 - We May Or May Not Be Around In June!
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Lost Dimension is 3D dungeon crawler structure but turnbased combat IIRC
Crystar and Alliance both more classic JRPGs
I'm very tempted in getting that Stay Home & Play JRPG bundle.
Finished MO: Astray.
Excellent ride all around and my god does it look amazing. That entire final boss fight was wild
Excellent ride all around and my god does it look amazing. That entire final boss fight was wild
It's a very good deal to be honest and the selection of games inside is AMAZING!!!! yes, even Oninaki which is the best one from Tokyo Factory, Chrono Trigger is a masterpiece of JRPG, FFXII is probably the last great classic FF and Dragon Quest 11 is pure love.
If you want to play any of this, go for it.
By the way, the 4th game in the Skautfold series, Moonless Knight is on sale as well:
It's less than 4 bucks if you own the other games in the bundle
store.steampowered.com
I haven't played that particular entry yet (but I'll probably pick it up this sale), but it's likely very good
The entire series is well worth playing!
It's less than 4 bucks if you own the other games in the bundle
Skautfold on Steam
I haven't played that particular entry yet (but I'll probably pick it up this sale), but it's likely very good
The entire series is well worth playing!
I'm fine with it even if it's done in a way similar to nukige, I don't really need a deep complex reason as to why there's some porn in my games
I've refunded Crystar after all, I'll be picking it up when it's a bit cheaper.
Instead I've decided to use my animebux on The Square Enix bundle.
Cart looks like this at the moment, we'll see if something else will still join it.
For now I'll be giving Horace a try though!
Instead I've decided to use my animebux on The Square Enix bundle.
Cart looks like this at the moment, we'll see if something else will still join it.
For now I'll be giving Horace a try though!
Might pick up the Squeenix Home bundle. It gives me 72% off on Oninaki. Despite the mixed reviews of the game I liked the demo.
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I also bought the S-E bundle. I didn't really want the games in it I didn't have (anything other than FF12) immediately, but I decided to get it now anyway when I read that they are donating the profits from it.
Swords of Ditto is pretty good. Unlike many roguelikes there was always a nice sense of progression and variety, though it did maybe get a bit too easy towards the end (if you always succeed you get to keep a huge amount of equipment and usable items over the runs). Took us ~25 hours to fully complete the game.
This the month where we get Satisfactory on Steam, right?
Looked at the Squenix Bundle. Could save something but the only game in it that I don't have in any form is Oninaki but I am good as it is
Looked at the Squenix Bundle. Could save something but the only game in it that I don't have in any form is Oninaki but I am good as it is
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Maybe my "problem" is that these games rarely feature "vanilla" sex, it's frequently more "outlandish" scenes, say featuring the main character engaging with multiple partners (usually in a situation of forced sex, rape; "punishment by sex", like PC-tan mentioned)?
Or maybe my problem is with the genre of the game?
I have no problem with sex within the context of an adventure game, or an RPG.
But with other genres, it turns me off.
There's a publisher, TinyHat Studios, who has a couple of games I came across several times that look very interesting, outside of the sexual content.
In particular a game called Seeds of Chaos, which is apparently a game with RPG and strategy elements.
Every time this game pops-up, when I place my cursor on the Steam search icon for the game it doesn't show the sexual scenes, it shows:
It's an appealing visual style.
So I always go to the game's page, and the first thing I see is a screenshot of a sex scene, with a description that reads like it came from one of those cheap, erotic novels.
And that pretty much kills my interest.
---
Thanks for all your replies on the subject, guys.
I was genuinely curious, probably because I see some of these games, they appear to have some "quality" to it, and I feel like they are using sexual content to sell their games, but I'm not sure how effective that is, because it keeps some people away as well.
Not to mention the obvious thing: Steam hides these games, unless you have them turned on in the settings, so while indeed being available on Steam allows them to reach a big audience, most of them won't ever see their games.
I wish this content was optional, to cover both bases.
Maybe do like some games already do, and release the game on Steam without the explicit content, and have that content available as a free DLC on the store (but please, do not make me go elsewhere download patches, make them available as a DLC on Steam, like other games do).
That way, their games would appear on Steam to everyone, and the patches would only be used, and seen, by the people interest in accessing such content.
OH MY, ARE THEY? I totally missed that part! that fucking amazing!!!
That's correct, BlueOdin
One hour Escapist documentary on Darkest Dungeon. Thought it might interest a couple of people here.
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EdwardTivrusky I have to give the game a go one of these days.
I backed it on Kickstarter, the game has a visual style that I find very appealing, the lovecraftian setting is great as well, I like the genre, so it should be a winning combination for me. But the earlier versions I played, well before the final release came out, had such stupid difficulty spikes it turned me off the game.
I play plenty of games that people think of as difficult, but the difficulty in this game was just plain annoying me.
It felt to me as too much of a trial and error situation. You probably had one good party setup to overcome a certain stage, but all the others would be wiped out, and you would lose all the characters you improved, and you would be back to square one.
The comments on release made it seem like these difficulty spikes continued.
Is the game any better on that front?
I backed it on Kickstarter, the game has a visual style that I find very appealing, the lovecraftian setting is great as well, I like the genre, so it should be a winning combination for me. But the earlier versions I played, well before the final release came out, had such stupid difficulty spikes it turned me off the game.
I play plenty of games that people think of as difficult, but the difficulty in this game was just plain annoying me.
It felt to me as too much of a trial and error situation. You probably had one good party setup to overcome a certain stage, but all the others would be wiped out, and you would lose all the characters you improved, and you would be back to square one.
The comments on release made it seem like these difficulty spikes continued.
Is the game any better on that front?
Damn I think I need to get that SQENIX bundle when I get money in a few days. It was already going to be tough month so 50€ is like two weeks of food, so I figure out how to really stretch my food budget. But it is for a good cause and I don't have any of those games!
I did play 35 hours of Dragon Quest already on Switch... how willing am I replaying all that again hmh!
I did play 35 hours of Dragon Quest already on Switch... how willing am I replaying all that again hmh!
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FunktionJCB I couldn't say if anything has changed as i haven't played it for a year or two. It's a great game for sure but like you i just found it got frustrating after a while and i ended up just spiralling into gloom with a string of bad runs and bad luck. I get that that's the point of the game, it is Darkest Dungeon after all, but after a while i just put it down and wandered off to play a different game and never went back.
Was always a bit lucky that I didn't run in to much problems with the Windows Store. Now I opened the Xbox App to download Minecraft through it and saw it still has an entry for Ori 2 in it. Was sure I uninstalled it though not from the app but the start menu. Tried to remove the entry but it wanted to stay there. Ventured into the Windows Store to download Minecraft since it didn't show up in the Xbox App as a game I own though they could also be owned that I am confused by my Microsoft accounts. Then I saw the Windows Store wanted to download an update for Ori 2. And I can't find any files on my system for it. And due to the nature of all the software involved in this I am afraid of trying to download the update.
Now I hope Minecraft Dungeons makes it outside the Windows Store on PC or might pick it up on console.
Now I hope Minecraft Dungeons makes it outside the Windows Store on PC or might pick it up on console.
Thank you, Mor
Finished Act 2 (of 3) in Gears: Tactics. And I think I'll drop it.
I like planing and puzzle solving. I like strategy games where you can plan in advance and execute complicated plans. Like Chess or a good game of Magic. Sure you often have to adept and even discard plans, but I like to get a situation under control, eventually.
But Gears Tactics is mainly about reacting to fires that the games constantly ignites until the mission ends. The best plans are worth nothing if the game randomly spawns enemies in random locations, spawns mines at random locations and puts on aoe fields that can create unsolvable situations.
You have to slowly creep forward, constantly using overwatch (that slows down gameplay too much). Despite items not being limited per mission, you still can't fully utilize your "tools" and "skills" whenever you like because some of them are essential for certain situations (e.g. grenades for sink holes) and it is game over if you do not have them ready. Overwatch is way more powerful than direct attacks, because it interrupts and pushes enemies back. Some situations are best solved by killing damage sponge like enemy soldiers to take over their weaponry for a couple of shoots.
Loot is very important from a power creep pov, but randomized to a degree that you more often are disappointed than happy about getting something new. Characters in side missions are restricted to one use per chapter, so if you used the sniper with the good equipment you'll have to rely on the sniper with the bad equipment for the next mission. And he only got bad equipment and is less useful because you rolled badly.
There is a certain lack of control in Gears Tactics. It often feels like the game is playing you and not vice versa. And still gameplay already starts to feel repetitive. The first ten times a pack of enemies spawned in my back was dangerous. But the game can only so often scream "surprise" before you get used to it.
I like planing and puzzle solving. I like strategy games where you can plan in advance and execute complicated plans. Like Chess or a good game of Magic. Sure you often have to adept and even discard plans, but I like to get a situation under control, eventually.
But Gears Tactics is mainly about reacting to fires that the games constantly ignites until the mission ends. The best plans are worth nothing if the game randomly spawns enemies in random locations, spawns mines at random locations and puts on aoe fields that can create unsolvable situations.
You have to slowly creep forward, constantly using overwatch (that slows down gameplay too much). Despite items not being limited per mission, you still can't fully utilize your "tools" and "skills" whenever you like because some of them are essential for certain situations (e.g. grenades for sink holes) and it is game over if you do not have them ready. Overwatch is way more powerful than direct attacks, because it interrupts and pushes enemies back. Some situations are best solved by killing damage sponge like enemy soldiers to take over their weaponry for a couple of shoots.
Loot is very important from a power creep pov, but randomized to a degree that you more often are disappointed than happy about getting something new. Characters in side missions are restricted to one use per chapter, so if you used the sniper with the good equipment you'll have to rely on the sniper with the bad equipment for the next mission. And he only got bad equipment and is less useful because you rolled badly.
There is a certain lack of control in Gears Tactics. It often feels like the game is playing you and not vice versa. And still gameplay already starts to feel repetitive. The first ten times a pack of enemies spawned in my back was dangerous. But the game can only so often scream "surprise" before you get used to it.
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #523
only if they finally figure out crossplay
also - no achievements (because egs doesn't have them ... because that makes sense ... somehow)
Then I hope they figure out crossplay even if I don't need it. No achievements doesn't bother me too much because I am looking for a chill coop game where I can build stuff.
I should play Factorio...
I want to play Satisfactory too.
Playing them both on the same month, getting a nice burnout... oh, that sounds like me
I want to play Satisfactory too.
Playing them both on the same month, getting a nice burnout... oh, that sounds like me
The only thing making me feel better about so many people buying that 2007 game at such an insane price is that the proceeds go to charity .
.That one is a must watch, thank you!
Nah, they have at least 2 things in common: little to no story and randomized maps.
Well games tends to not get cheevos on Steam until they are out of ea anyway.
And Epic cheevos is suppose to release soon.
I watched a few Satisfactory streams on Twitch, it looks nice but I don't know, I'm not into building games in first person view. Couldn't help but think it's a Minecraft for grown ups.I should play Factorio...
I want to play Satisfactory too.
Playing them both on the same month, getting a nice burnout... oh, that sounds like me
What's wrong with ONINAKI? It's the only game that I don't have from the square enix bundle. But it seems it is the least liked game in the bundle
Going by the general user feedback, Tokyo RPG Factory is continuing its burgeoning tradition in mediocrity. Didn't play any of them, so the for what its worth factor is high.
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A heads-up: after the crap Coffee Stain pulled with HUNTDOWN, a game I've followed for years, beta tested, and was very much looking forward to, and now out of the blue it's launching in a few days... exclusively on the EGS, anyone I see owning Satisfactory will be removed from my Steam's friends list.
You have been warned.
Just kidding, of course.
Peer pressure !A heads-up: after the crap Coffee Stain pulled with HUNTDOWN, a game I've followed for years, beta tested, and was very much looking forward to, and now out of the blue it's launching in a few days... exclusively on the EGS, anyone I see owning Satisfactory will be removed from my Steam's friends list.
You have been warned.
Just kidding, of course.
It's ~14€ with the bundle price, that's fineThe only thing making me feel better about so many people buying that 2007 game at such an insane price is that the proceeds go to charity
It's a Tokyo RPG Factory game, they have a history of making just alright games. Couple that with a high price point, you have a recipe for mixed receptions
I've only played a bit of the demo for Oninaki and I enjoyed it, but not 50€ enjoyment
In other news, Horace is great. The voice acting is... special, but the game oozes charm and the amount of work that must have put into the spritework and cutscenes must have been insane
Me buy Dragon Marked for Death for second time. On Steam, like good boy. No issue. Me glad.
32 euros shaped hole in heart, though.
32 euros shaped hole in heart, though.
I played "I am Setsuna", and I guess it's a bit like that.
Some really neat ideas, but when you play it for longer you really notice how much they cut it down (probably for budget reasons).
Finished
Took me 16.3 hours on intermediate (I assume it's normal difficulty) according to my Steam profile, which is pretty accurate, didn't have much downtime (game open, but not playing).
I really enjoyed the game despite it's flaws. The gameplay is a lot of fun and I liked the range of abilities and stuff you can unlock. The game's main weakness for me is that it requires you to play a bunch of side missions at times in order to advance the main story forward and the main story mission objectives also at times feels "side mission-ish". But thanks to that I had a lot of fun with the gameplay, it didn't really bother me that much. Story is okay, but nothing to write home about. However, as someone who has played all the other Gears games I did get some backstory on certain things and one thing I didn't know about before that made me go "Woah".
All in all, I give it 8/10.
Took me 16.3 hours on intermediate (I assume it's normal difficulty) according to my Steam profile, which is pretty accurate, didn't have much downtime (game open, but not playing).
I really enjoyed the game despite it's flaws. The gameplay is a lot of fun and I liked the range of abilities and stuff you can unlock. The game's main weakness for me is that it requires you to play a bunch of side missions at times in order to advance the main story forward and the main story mission objectives also at times feels "side mission-ish". But thanks to that I had a lot of fun with the gameplay, it didn't really bother me that much. Story is okay, but nothing to write home about. However, as someone who has played all the other Gears games I did get some backstory on certain things and one thing I didn't know about before that made me go "Woah".
All in all, I give it 8/10.
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FInished the first mission in gears tactics
after that intro and my gears 5 playthrough and what i had played of gears 1 all the way back
i really gotta say
gears has the most boring universe in all of fiction
after that intro and my gears 5 playthrough and what i had played of gears 1 all the way back
i really gotta say
gears has the most boring universe in all of fiction
Don't worry, they will figure out magically
Gears 5 and Tactics doesnt portray the universe well.
2 and 3 is still the best games imo. 2 is absolutely fantastic.
This tower defense sale is great. Found a few new TDs.
Some cheap favorites of mine:
All with zero mictrotransaction bullshit and all of that. Check them out if you need a good time waster!
Some cheap favorites of mine:
All with zero mictrotransaction bullshit and all of that. Check them out if you need a good time waster!
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I don't care at all, and people that complain about it annoy me. If you don't like it, don't look at it and don't buy/play it, it's that easy. Instead of trying to tell the whole world that it's a bad thing and that it shouldn't exist in whatever game.
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Personally I don't feel like porn needs context or a narrative, it's just porn. If anything, I'm glad porn games are trying harder on the mechanics department and becoming something actually worth playing instead of just being bad-end CG simulators.
That said I can understand being turned off by it, not everyone is into gratuitous porn. It's something that can hold back games like Haydee, which are very mechanically interesting but require you to be okay with staring at her bare ass covering half the screen 90% of the time.
Dragon Marked for Title Too Long is bought, Streets 4 is bought.
In the time limited discount department I still have my eyes on Deadly Premonition Switch and Deep Rock Galactic. But ink is not dry on the money yet
In the time limited discount department I still have my eyes on Deadly Premonition Switch and Deep Rock Galactic. But ink is not dry on the money yet
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Like I mentioned in my post, I own adult games. My "problem" isn't adult content, it's, I would guess, gratuitously fitting graphic sexual content in genres where it just seems pointless. Like in those two games I mentioned as an example.
So, I was wondering what the opinions of fellow Meta members were.
Naturally, like I keep saying over and over again, I'll never say what anyone else should or shouldn't do with their money, or play and enjoy.
And, I think my post was pretty clear on that. I was even complementary on the look of the games I posted about.
I don't see how you took, from my post, that I was telling the whole world how it's a bad thing.
I said it's something that, for me, it works on the opposite way the developers intended.
That's a weird, aggressive reply, for such a, I would say, harmless post.
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Finished FF7 (on YT)
It was pretty and different. But that's that.
I would never buy it or replay it if I had bought it.
And the reason: Cinematics. Nowadays it is just (if even) a prettier continuation of the story and too often with shitty QTE's.
I don't know how to correctly argue the point, but in previous Final Fantasy stories (before 13) the cinematics felt like a treat, praise for a job well done, etc. In the dozens of replays of FF8, I always played to get to the cinematics, they were hype, they were such a jump in visual quality, that you always felt, that shit got real when you got them.
FF8: Battle of the Gardens, attack and retreat of Dollet, Galbadia festival, Missile attack on the Garden, Lunar Cry, etc
FF10: Opening Cinematic, Wedding ceremony, kiss in the water, etc.
FF10-2: 1000 words.
It was pretty and different. But that's that.
I would never buy it or replay it if I had bought it.
And the reason: Cinematics. Nowadays it is just (if even) a prettier continuation of the story and too often with shitty QTE's.
I don't know how to correctly argue the point, but in previous Final Fantasy stories (before 13) the cinematics felt like a treat, praise for a job well done, etc. In the dozens of replays of FF8, I always played to get to the cinematics, they were hype, they were such a jump in visual quality, that you always felt, that shit got real when you got them.
FF8: Battle of the Gardens, attack and retreat of Dollet, Galbadia festival, Missile attack on the Garden, Lunar Cry, etc
FF10: Opening Cinematic, Wedding ceremony, kiss in the water, etc.
FF10-2: 1000 words.
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I hope you can get your money back.
And, now that you own it, we need to try playing a mission, just to test things, with BlindRhythm.
If you guys have 30-60 minutes to spare later today (or any other day), do reach me on Steam, so we can play it for a bit.
I more than doubled my playtime since last time and I couldn't tell you where it all went so it's time for another one of these! If you feel like reading another wall of text as I go through my hunting journey, do read on .
As always, if you have thank you for reading! Writing these is great fun.
.Welcome back!
Since last time, I've spent a good deal of time exploring around and discovering little secrets while going through every possible quest with a completionist's helpless OCD. I am happy to report that I have now zipped past my earlier Anjanath apprehension. I can now do it without fainting, rather quickly and if I ever have children they'll have enough T-Rex skins to keep warm until Iceborne no longer has reported connection issues. Through the whole process, I got to understand my character's choice of oversized cutlery a lot more. I can now even trigger some attacks I didn't understand previously and climb onto a monster semi-reliably. The feeling of learning my character and the game's stupid amount of mechanics was really great and loops back into its admirable commitment to making you experience the journey of a hunter. I have mastered the prehistoric chicken.
I have also purchased Iceborne on account of the sale ending and the 40 hours I have already spent playing World. It was as good an indicator as any that mayhap I'd like more. And my first reaction is, god damn is the clutch claw a criminal omission from the base game. It's not overpowered from what I can tell, but the range of options it provides are fantastic. I guess the only thing I would complain about is that it muddles the waters between climbing and clawing. It certainly helped make more sense of those drooling, slightly-gross-but-oddly-satisfying staggers. Speaking of drool, I'll come back to it but it's another of the game's amazing attention to details.
Moving on, the game treated me to a scripted as hell, but nonetheless cool sequence with the Big Bad whose name I can't remember and looks suspiciously like Godzilla. It still required a pretty big suspension of disbelief as I fell over and over again, only for the game to gently put me back up there and extend a gentle but firm invitation to try and behave like I belonged on this team. As always, what stole the show was the environment. Still, with that defeat done and over with, I moved onto the next locale.
I got to the Coral Highlands.
Holy crap. It pretty much blew my mind all over again as a reminder that, just in case I forgot, yes this game is goddamn beautiful. It strongly reminded me of Nausicaa's sea of decay in its alien beauty. The coral Highlands are easily one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen in a video game.
Every angle felt like concept art and on top of that, every time of day really transformed it into something different and striking while keeping that underwater atmosphere of the utmost beauty.
However this was also where the game's heavy hand showed itself again. Please, don't fucking show me where the camp I'm looking for is. I'm not actually searching, we both know that so let's stop pretending and quit yelling in my ear. Don't rush me, you just introduced me to one of your most beautiful places. Let me take it in. Let me enjoy that I'm seeing the shadow of a massive insect slowly crawl over me, making me tilt the camera up only to feel my eyes widening as I notice the sky is filled with them. These discoveries, that sense of awe and wonder at those impossible places is what so few games even try to do anymore. This is where MH:W is at its strongest and it would be wise not to stand in its own way.
The other thing that this game does really, really well is making several monsters have a go at each other. I often find myself smiling like a goofball when a Diablos just bum-rushes a Barroth and slams it against the Arena's walls to tremendous effect before I Pull The Lever, wondering what it does only to cackle with childish glee as I figure out that looney tunes gags are real. By the way, Diablos are still super scary for me. Those charges knock off about two thirds of my life every time, so I was more than happy to let them soften each other up. That, in itself, is still pretty cool. It also made me realize that I really like these beasts, in the same way a child likes dinosaurs : because they are damn cool and why would you not?
Fuck Paolumu though. That asshole, right there, was the most frustrating thing in the world to capture, It's one of those few places where the game stumbled for me. It's not only an airborne creature that spends half its time taunting you while trying to turn you into a burger pattie, it's one of those rare creatures for which the body language is very unclear, Most others limp with a heart-breaking little whine once ready to be captured. But not this one. Oh no, not him, no whining with this ball of bouncing hate. Just more air-blowing and bumping and fucking around with an overall tendency to fly that was crucially lacking in the limping department. I ended up killing it two times by mistakes before figuring out that once it starts drooling and desperately rushes back its nest to sleep, then it is good and ready to be Edison'd up. As frustrating as that experience was, it pointed to other signs of the monster's health and I was kind of amazed all over again at the intricacies of their animations and combat design.
The coral highlands were an amazing time. What a beautiful place. Still, the game had to move on and started shifting away from that location while beginning to really open up. There were more quests than I could count, many monsters still unfelled across all three environments and so many pieces of armor to craft it wasn't even funny. I also moved up in the world and these quarters have got to be some of the coolest since Divinity 2. I've also gotten access to trailraders safaris, and god damn they are adorable. I also got access to charms, to a dozen new crafting recipes, I started having to mix different pieces of armors and at the end of it all I found myself facing down a solid case of choice paralysis.
When in doubt, go deeper. Enter, the Rotten Vale.
Nestled below the Coral Highlands, this lovely place is all scavengers and death. Where things were previously otherworldly beautiful, this place is suffocatingly grim and dark. Yes, you guessed it, this is the swamp level. Still, it's not that bad despite having high hopes for it in line with the clear inspiration they took from Nausicaa earlier. I kind of hoped for the same twist. And who knows! I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet. Besides, rot is part of every ecosystem and the game didn't miss that. It still felt like a bit of a miss for me. Despite that, there are things I like about it. The way paths are clearly forged by that overgrown porcupine as it rolls on is really cool. There are small pockets of beauty in the middle of the decay and it's still teeming with life. Just the wrong kind. Gross, dog-sized insects who adore getting in your face for a good facehug to interrupt you in the middle of your carving business. Fuck those with a vengeance. Want me to kill 14 of those? Oh yes. Oh, very yes.
And that's about where I am! The game has really shifted gears and I still feel a little overwhelmed. There are events, quests, optional things, cooking is clearly telling me to learn it or else and there is so much gear to craft I have trouble keeping track of where to even go. Despite all that, I am fighting myself not to log back in every day in order to keep from burning out, to keep the wonder alive. This game has so much to offer but there is a distinctive urge to rush through it, to complete all the things. If there is one regret I have, it's that monsters have become a little less... awesome. I'm starting to get the tactics down and I am increasingly going through the motions fighting them. I have mastered many of them, but in the process lost a bit of the magic.
Which is why I'm glad Diablos is still kicking my ass, which made him and Rathalos my new goals. I know I am repeating myself but the game really is at its best, a joy of an experience when it is about being a hunter and learning. In making you feel both humbled and awed. It even gets up in your face about it through the First Fleet veteran's words : "Learn about this place", she tells you. It's not just about kicking monster butt (but also that) and I like that a lot about a game.
Since last time, I've spent a good deal of time exploring around and discovering little secrets while going through every possible quest with a completionist's helpless OCD. I am happy to report that I have now zipped past my earlier Anjanath apprehension. I can now do it without fainting, rather quickly and if I ever have children they'll have enough T-Rex skins to keep warm until Iceborne no longer has reported connection issues. Through the whole process, I got to understand my character's choice of oversized cutlery a lot more. I can now even trigger some attacks I didn't understand previously and climb onto a monster semi-reliably. The feeling of learning my character and the game's stupid amount of mechanics was really great and loops back into its admirable commitment to making you experience the journey of a hunter. I have mastered the prehistoric chicken.
I have also purchased Iceborne on account of the sale ending and the 40 hours I have already spent playing World. It was as good an indicator as any that mayhap I'd like more. And my first reaction is, god damn is the clutch claw a criminal omission from the base game. It's not overpowered from what I can tell, but the range of options it provides are fantastic. I guess the only thing I would complain about is that it muddles the waters between climbing and clawing. It certainly helped make more sense of those drooling, slightly-gross-but-oddly-satisfying staggers. Speaking of drool, I'll come back to it but it's another of the game's amazing attention to details.
Moving on, the game treated me to a scripted as hell, but nonetheless cool sequence with the Big Bad whose name I can't remember and looks suspiciously like Godzilla. It still required a pretty big suspension of disbelief as I fell over and over again, only for the game to gently put me back up there and extend a gentle but firm invitation to try and behave like I belonged on this team. As always, what stole the show was the environment. Still, with that defeat done and over with, I moved onto the next locale.
I got to the Coral Highlands.
Holy crap. It pretty much blew my mind all over again as a reminder that, just in case I forgot, yes this game is goddamn beautiful. It strongly reminded me of Nausicaa's sea of decay in its alien beauty. The coral Highlands are easily one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen in a video game.
Every angle felt like concept art and on top of that, every time of day really transformed it into something different and striking while keeping that underwater atmosphere of the utmost beauty.
However this was also where the game's heavy hand showed itself again. Please, don't fucking show me where the camp I'm looking for is. I'm not actually searching, we both know that so let's stop pretending and quit yelling in my ear. Don't rush me, you just introduced me to one of your most beautiful places. Let me take it in. Let me enjoy that I'm seeing the shadow of a massive insect slowly crawl over me, making me tilt the camera up only to feel my eyes widening as I notice the sky is filled with them. These discoveries, that sense of awe and wonder at those impossible places is what so few games even try to do anymore. This is where MH:W is at its strongest and it would be wise not to stand in its own way.
The other thing that this game does really, really well is making several monsters have a go at each other. I often find myself smiling like a goofball when a Diablos just bum-rushes a Barroth and slams it against the Arena's walls to tremendous effect before I Pull The Lever, wondering what it does only to cackle with childish glee as I figure out that looney tunes gags are real. By the way, Diablos are still super scary for me. Those charges knock off about two thirds of my life every time, so I was more than happy to let them soften each other up. That, in itself, is still pretty cool. It also made me realize that I really like these beasts, in the same way a child likes dinosaurs : because they are damn cool and why would you not?
Fuck Paolumu though. That asshole, right there, was the most frustrating thing in the world to capture, It's one of those few places where the game stumbled for me. It's not only an airborne creature that spends half its time taunting you while trying to turn you into a burger pattie, it's one of those rare creatures for which the body language is very unclear, Most others limp with a heart-breaking little whine once ready to be captured. But not this one. Oh no, not him, no whining with this ball of bouncing hate. Just more air-blowing and bumping and fucking around with an overall tendency to fly that was crucially lacking in the limping department. I ended up killing it two times by mistakes before figuring out that once it starts drooling and desperately rushes back its nest to sleep, then it is good and ready to be Edison'd up. As frustrating as that experience was, it pointed to other signs of the monster's health and I was kind of amazed all over again at the intricacies of their animations and combat design.
The coral highlands were an amazing time. What a beautiful place. Still, the game had to move on and started shifting away from that location while beginning to really open up. There were more quests than I could count, many monsters still unfelled across all three environments and so many pieces of armor to craft it wasn't even funny. I also moved up in the world and these quarters have got to be some of the coolest since Divinity 2. I've also gotten access to trailraders safaris, and god damn they are adorable. I also got access to charms, to a dozen new crafting recipes, I started having to mix different pieces of armors and at the end of it all I found myself facing down a solid case of choice paralysis.
When in doubt, go deeper. Enter, the Rotten Vale.
Nestled below the Coral Highlands, this lovely place is all scavengers and death. Where things were previously otherworldly beautiful, this place is suffocatingly grim and dark. Yes, you guessed it, this is the swamp level. Still, it's not that bad despite having high hopes for it in line with the clear inspiration they took from Nausicaa earlier. I kind of hoped for the same twist. And who knows! I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet. Besides, rot is part of every ecosystem and the game didn't miss that. It still felt like a bit of a miss for me. Despite that, there are things I like about it. The way paths are clearly forged by that overgrown porcupine as it rolls on is really cool. There are small pockets of beauty in the middle of the decay and it's still teeming with life. Just the wrong kind. Gross, dog-sized insects who adore getting in your face for a good facehug to interrupt you in the middle of your carving business. Fuck those with a vengeance. Want me to kill 14 of those? Oh yes. Oh, very yes.
And that's about where I am! The game has really shifted gears and I still feel a little overwhelmed. There are events, quests, optional things, cooking is clearly telling me to learn it or else and there is so much gear to craft I have trouble keeping track of where to even go. Despite all that, I am fighting myself not to log back in every day in order to keep from burning out, to keep the wonder alive. This game has so much to offer but there is a distinctive urge to rush through it, to complete all the things. If there is one regret I have, it's that monsters have become a little less... awesome. I'm starting to get the tactics down and I am increasingly going through the motions fighting them. I have mastered many of them, but in the process lost a bit of the magic.
Which is why I'm glad Diablos is still kicking my ass, which made him and Rathalos my new goals. I know I am repeating myself but the game really is at its best, a joy of an experience when it is about being a hunter and learning. In making you feel both humbled and awed. It even gets up in your face about it through the First Fleet veteran's words : "Learn about this place", she tells you. It's not just about kicking monster butt (but also that) and I like that a lot about a game.
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Are you taking about SCUM?Yes, I agree completely, it often feels shoe-horned in rather than not. I'm not necessarily opposed to it - it has the potential of conveying a lot of things, but most of the time it's just there to show some nudidty. I definitely wish there was more thought put into those sequences, but if not, instead just remove them altogether or just present a simple implication.
Apropos of meaningless mechanics in games, I do have a problem with games in which you can urinate and defecate. It's a complete dealbreaker. Maybe it's me being petty, but it's just silly, gross and utterly pointless and I'll absolutely judge the game and the game designer as a whole for it.
Luckily it's a very rare sight, but it does happen once in a blue moon that a developer internally goes "you know what would be a really funny and really really cool, edgy feature?"
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