November 2023 Random Game Thoughts Thread

[ZedClampet]

7.5 hours in and Yakuza 4 isn't looking good. I'm playing on normal difficulty and the fights are so easy that I haven't needed to use a single health boost in any fight so far. I stopped bothering to spend my skill points after the first couple of hours. Worse yet, the looniness is gone again. In Yakuza 3, it was replaced with giving life advice to kids. In 4, it's just plain preachy - and preaching pretty crappy lessons, too.

I'll give it a little longer - maybe the game will redeem itself with other characters - but I'm pessimistic right now.

Edit: OK, you want to see too easy? Here we go:

View: https://youtu.be/ecEn9L1EoPI

Normal difficulty. If I had kept running in a circle, I would still be recording.

Wow, except for the running in circles, you did nothing but take damage for about 2 minutes. Is this one of those games where you can't change the difficulty after you've started?

I occasionally see this on Steam, where a bundle will be cheaper than an individual component—so keep an eye out for it.

There are some small publishers who make lots of deals with other small publishers and you'll find the game in about 20 different bundles. Because I have so many of these small team games, I can often find a bundle where I already own the other game, but I still get the bundle discount for the game I'm wanting. It's usually 15 percent off I think.

Here's a list of one of those publishers. Most of the games at the top of the list are just single games, but as you make your way past the half-way point most of them are two game bundles.

 

[ZedClampet]

You haven't twigged it yet? Sheesh…

Get out of the way and let it be Pilot on its own—you are so holding it back

Anyone who uses Copilot to gather data is in for a very bad surprise if they don't go back and check every single number. For some reason it doesn't seem to be able to match data to the proper labels in a table.

It also cannot discern between good and bad sources and makes no effort to reconcile, or even to mention, conflicting information. It is also largely uninterested in time (dates).

 

[Pifanjr]

7.5 hours in and Yakuza 4 isn't looking good. I'm playing on normal difficulty and the fights are so easy that I haven't needed to use a single health boost in any fight so far. I stopped bothering to spend my skill points after the first couple of hours. Worse yet, the looniness is gone again. In Yakuza 3, it was replaced with giving life advice to kids. In 4, it's just plain preachy - and preaching pretty crappy lessons, too.

I'll give it a little longer - maybe the game will redeem itself with other characters - but I'm pessimistic right now.

Edit: OK, you want to see too easy? Here we go:

View: https://youtu.be/ecEn9L1EoPI

Normal difficulty. If I had kept running in a circle, I would still be recording.

I'm not sure if a higher difficulty would change the fact they can't hit you if you just keep moving. That looks like a seriously bad combat system.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I dont think you'll like Z @Brian Boru. Its the original RTS that did away with base building and went full rush mode. Might pay a little slower these days compared to some but I struggled with it back in the 90's coming off of C&C. Then again you couldn't get half a cheap beer in a dive bar here for that price, so worth a try.

Waiting for the sales to start at my store of choice. Another one had an Asus 4070 Pro Art at €200 off but they all went literally the second the sale opened. Doesnt bode well but ill try anyway. Was hoping against hope I could nab a deal on a 4070Ti within budget, but chances are slim.

 

[Zloth]

Wow, except for the running in circles, you did nothing but take damage for about 2 minutes. Is this one of those games where you can't change the difficulty after you've started?

Yep. If you set the difficulty too high, the game will let you lower it if you get beat on too many times, but it won't let you raise the difficulty.

I'm going to skip 4 and 5 and try Yakuza 6 to see if it's any better. 6 actually came out after Yakuza 0, so I'm hoping some of that magic is still around.

 

[ZedClampet]

It's possible I just set a record in Lethal Company. We landed on a moon during a storm. I took a few steps off of the ship, was hit by lightning and died.

 

[Colif]

Anyone who uses Copilot to gather data is in for a very bad surprise if they don't go back and check every single number. For some reason it doesn't seem to be able to match data to the proper labels in a table.

and yet its built into office... people think its there to help them. who is going to sue Microsoft for destroying their business?

 

[ZedClampet]

Our great run in Lethal Company came to an end. Guido and Elly both died, and I was trying to make it back to the ship with one last item. I was not far from the ship when a forest monster appeared to my left. Guido yelled, "Drop it and run!" I made it back to about 20 feet from the ship when my stamina ran out. I was at the ladder when he grabbed me from behind, and it was game over.

 

[Brian Boru]

I can often find a bundle where I already own the other game, but I still get the bundle discount for the game I'm wanting. It's usually 15 percent off I think

Yes, I've seen that on a few occasions too.

I dont think you'll like Z @Brian Boru. Its the original RTS that did away with base building and went full rush mode.

You are quite right Unless there are mods, my playtime shall remain at around 30 minutes in the annals of major human historical cultural events.

its built into office … who is going to sue Microsoft for destroying their business?

Nobody. The AI wrote its own T&C, so all your bases are belong to us.

---

Black Mesa

Played a couple of hours of Black Mesa. I'm not an intro fan, but this one was a nice nod to the train ride intro in Half Life 2—and the G-Man showed up briefly later too

So 30 minutes on intro and Options, then 30 minutes wandering the facility—apparently late for work… again. Then an hour after the excreperiment hit the fan running around the place looking for a weapon, failing, and dying. C'mon game, is a crowbar too much to ask for?—see, I'm not greedy, expecting anything too overpowered in a seminal shooter… like, say, a pistol.

Now I remember why I replayed Half Life 2 only once. Melee in corridors, zombies, dark settings… I'll stick with it tho, as I'm fairly sure I should get to the surface soon, where the enemy will include human and alien military in reasonably visible surroundings, and there might be guns.

The Crowbar Collective have done a great job with this, hats off to them as a fan group—hoping they'll drop an armored helmet for me if I say nice things It's a combo remaster and remake of Half Life 1, incl in a different game engine, and the devs have both added a few key characters and also fleshed out all the interior locations I've seen so far.

Actually I just thought of a way I may be able to stay alive, if there's no weapon 'down there'—fairly sure there isn't in the areas I frantically explored. I did meet a security guard with a pistol, but ran away from him—maybe if I stay with him and let him be my weapon

Intro tram ride:

 

[ZedClampet]

I did meet a security guard with a pistol, but ran away from him—maybe if I stay with him and let him be my weapon

It's been a very long time since I played Half-Life, but I'm reasonably sure that you are supposed to stay with the security guard.

 

[Zloth]

I'm going to skip 4 and 5 and try Yakuza 6 to see if it's any better. 6 actually came out after Yakuza 0, so I'm hoping some of that magic is still around.

Good move, I'm enjoying 6 quite a bit more. The fights are better balanced, the RPG elements are more interesting than just spending skill points, the story is more interesting, and...

View: https://youtu.be/y8IFeoC-x8o


PHYSICS ENGINE! It gets silly at times, but it's fun!

 

[Johnway]

All this talk of yakuza reminds me to do an update for yakuza 3. The main thing that is starting to get annoying is the constant blocking by the enemies and no abilities to break it. The best thing i can do is bait them into attacking or doing whiff attacks with a single jab or kick before retreating. Alternatively you concede initative and let them to attack first and use counters to succeed. Sure you technically roll past/counter if you're lucky but its far too hamfisted.

 

[ZedClampet]

Well, that really wasn't very fair. Guido and I decided to play some Lethal Company, just the two of us, even though that sounded pretty impossible. Yet we made it really far. Farther even than the three of us made it yesterday. And all of a sudden the game just said, "Screw you guys."

We went to different entrances and I walk through the main door and there is a turret sitting right in front of me. I immediately spun and pressed "E" for the door, but it was already shooting. I ended up outside, but dead.

Guido's door had been closer, so now I'm following him and he is trapped by four monsters, two on either side. None of them are the type you can fight. There's no way out, so he decides to just jump off into the abyss.

So now we are in serious trouble of not meeting our quota. We go to the next world. Guido walks through a door and is immediately shot dead by a turret that couldn't be seen as it was hugging the same wall as the door. Meanwhile, I'm being chased by a large creature trying to get back to an exit when suddenly two more of them show up in the hall in front of me. There are no more doors There's no way to juke them. I die. We didn't even bother going on the last mission.

 

[Zloth]

The main thing that is starting to get annoying is the constant blocking by the enemies and no abilities to break it.

Yeah, the game is famous for that. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the too-easy combat in 4 is some sort of attempt to respond to 3's combat. But, as I recall, 3's combat wasn't hugely hard once you figured it out, it was just tedious.

Oh, have you done any of those "revelation" things?

 

[ZedClampet]

Played some Demonologist and I figured out what scares me. I have to have a stake in the game. Lethal Company is terrifying the more stuff you have collected and stand to lose. It's terrifying because one terrible move can end the game and make you start over. Games like Demonologist and Phasmophobia are not scary to me because you never lose anything of value. Die and you just rebuy what you lost. A demon runs screaming past me, and I just shrug. But opening the next door in Lethal Company? That's scary. Carrying items to the ship after dark? Terrifying.

 

[neogunhero]

Finally finished Cult of the Lamb! Took me roughly 24 hours to complete. Ending wasn’t as big or spectacular as I expected, but it ended right when I needed it to. It was starting to overstay its welcome. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but I was just ready to be done with it and move onto a new game. Definitely one of the best games I’ve played all year, I’d rate it a 9/10.

 

[Zloth]

Played some Demonologist and I figured out what scares me. I have to have a stake in the game.

Oh! The Yakuza games are going to be terrifying for you, then. There are multiple steaks in every game.

Personally, I'm a lot more frightened when they offer me tuna-burgers at the fast-food place.

 

[Johnway]

Yeah, the game is famous for that. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the too-easy combat in 4 is some sort of attempt to respond to 3's combat. But, as I recall, 3's combat wasn't hugely hard once you figured it out, it was just tedious.

Oh, have you done any of those "revelation" things?

it depends i found ways to cheese the bosses. The first being to do flying drop kicks, but they wise up to that in later levels. The other one is to simply have a high power meter and just tank the damage \ counter and hopes for the best. I might try some of the more advanced moves and see how that goes but knowing my luck it will be difficult.

i've done pretty much all the revelations to get a few extra moves. Some good, most are too situational to be useful tbh. like you have to be drunk to perform or you have to have a barrier between you and the target to perform a move.

 

[BeardyHat]

Well, I lost my character in Hardcore WoW at a mere level 17. Got up to feed the dog and get myself a cup of coffee and by the time I came back I was dead.

Granted, this was my own fault, but I don't think I'm cut out for Hardcore; I generally want to treat WoW as a chill, relaxed game and not have to stress about dying and losing a bunch of my time, so this may be the last hardcore character I start. Neat in concept, but now I feel like I've wasted a bunch of time.

 

[ZedClampet]

Finally finished Cult of the Lamb! Took me roughly 24 hours to complete. Ending wasn’t as big or spectacular as I expected, but it ended right when I needed it to. It was starting to overstay its welcome. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but I was just ready to be done with it and move onto a new game. Definitely one of the best games I’ve played all year, I’d rate it a 9/10.

Bought it during the sale but haven't started it yet.

Well, I lost my character in Hardcore WoW at a mere level 17. Got up to feed the dog and get myself a cup of coffee and by the time I came back I was dead.

Granted, this was my own fault, but I don't think I'm cut out for Hardcore; I generally want to treat WoW as a chill, relaxed game and not have to stress about dying and losing a bunch of my time, so this may be the last hardcore character I start. Neat in concept, but now I feel like I've wasted a bunch of time.

I believe there's some universal, immutable law that states that in a game that can't be paused, no matter where you leave your character, when you come back, no matter how short the absence, you'll either be dead or on the verge of death.

 

[ZedClampet]

Copilot makes a fairly good gaming companion. Weed Shop 3, despite appearances, has a ton of different types of content and mechanics, plus vaguely written missions or things that can be unlocked by some mysterious action, and nothing is explained at all. You can usually find out with a standard search engine search, but you may have to wander through the results to find the right answer, but Copilot just puts the relevant information right there for you fairly quickly.

One minor problem is that for early access games that have changed a lot, it might have outdated information (of course, so would the links you follow). Weed Shop 3 is in full release, but was quite different during most of its early access period. Also, one time it told me where to look on the map to find something. Having a map was news to me, so I asked it how to access the map, and it told me it was a mod and gave me a link to Nexus, so some of the answers it gives may be mod-related.

Overall, though, it's been very helpful and saved me a ton of time. Plus, for some reason I never thought to look for mods. I think I've played vanilla long enough. Time to look at some mods.

 

[ZedClampet]

Never mind modding Weed Shop 3. The devs had all the mods taken down. May be the first time I've seen a dev this against modding.

 

[BeardyHat]

Never mind modding Weed Shop 3. The devs had all the mods taken down. May be the first time I've seen a dev this against modding.

Weed Shop devs have no chill. Maybe there's something they can do to chill out a bit.

 

[Zloth]

Never mind modding Weed Shop 3. The devs had all the mods taken down. May be the first time I've seen a dev this against modding.

Maybe because it's EA and they don't want to deal with people reporting errors because a mod is broken or wasn't updated?

Weed Shop devs have no chill. Maybe there's something they can do to chill out a bit.

Well, obviously they need to cook up some chili!

 

[ZedClampet]

Maybe because it's EA and they don't want to deal with people reporting errors because a mod is broken or wasn't updated?

If I said it was in EA, I misspoke. It's actually in full release.