TheDJR wrote:

@tin_robot

Spoiler:

Agreed on your highlights. I thought the ending was fine, they had to find a way for you to not actually fight O'Dimm because he's too powerful. He's almost definitely Nyarlathothep/Randall Flagg but in Geralt's world. His name is a combination of the antagonist from Stephen King's Needful Things and Walter O'Dim from The Dark Tower.

I missed that having never read either book - may have a look, thanks.

Haha I meant it could be worse for me. Just have to accept what you've got innit.

My god, this is stunning.

Finished the wedding. Swineherd Crown is amazing.

If the first hour of Blood & Wine is only first to second gear then this is going to be phenomenal. The music, colour palette, little touches on buildings and town NPCs. It's like if Don Quixote was actually about a mutant monster hunter.

And

Surprised by how glowing RPS was of HoS. As a character focused story it had more than a few duff notes I thought. Imo Bloody B was handled substantially better as a familial tragedy.

Also The Caretaker is a piece of piss compared to every other boss in that DLC.

Also it was great fu

Toussaint has a strong Final Fantasy world vibe about it. In a good way.

And they're learning the art of real time drama rather than relying on cutscenes. Just made it to the arena and hearing the roars of the crowd and thumping of blows on armour, pushing through a milling line of people outside, fantastically atmospheric.

So, I unexpectedly had some time become available and bought the expansions. I managed to put in a good few hours today but still haven't started either of them - not for lack of willing, it's simply a matter of being under-levelled. On NG+ the level requirements (well, recommendations) for them are 62 and 64.

And, given that a) I've heard there's some tough fights and b) I'm playing on death march, I decided I wouldn't go in early. I'm up to 54 now, and should hit 55 soon, so hopefully I won't be waiting too long. Yes, I know I can drop in with a pre-levelled Geralt but...I want my own kit and skills.

Anyway, due to the EA sale that has been on recently I also picked up Dragon Age: Inquisition. And Jesus fuck if the difference in quality isn't night and day. It's actually weird how badly DA:I gets shown up in almost every single department. World design, combat, story, characters, romance, choice and consequence, horse riding and animation (which is weird as I find TW3's horse and general animations to be the weakest parts of the game) - the works. I know I'm not the first to say this but, fuck...

Anyway, it'd been weeks since I last played this, so it took a while to re-familiarise myself with the controls. While doing that I was struggling to get to grips with it again, and then I made a mistake and found myself trapped in the middle of a pack of wolves and a Leshen. My heart went crazy, Muscle memory kicked in, they were all dispatched, I felt like punching the air.

Later I did a quest I had done on a previous playthrough, but picked a different ending - which, in turn led to a completely different outcome and a completely new (and utterly amazing) mission I had never seen before in all my time playing this game. I gather everyone else has encountered The Cave of Dreams - but this was my first time.

I am still getting blown away by this game. Every time I think I've seen all it has to offer I go down a new rabbit hole and don't come out for hours. I am so fucking psyched for the expansions!!!

btw we need to change our GOTY rules so that we can vote for Blood and Wine.

This is one of those games which is a reason why I bought a new console and which I keep forgetting to buy. Loved the 2nd game - maybe it's time to pick this up.

Will do. However looking on Amazon for it has reminded me that I don't own Shadows of Mordor either. Not enough fucking time for all of this.

Fucking Ermion.

Gremill wrote:

This is one of those games which is a reason why I bought a new console and which I keep forgetting to buy. Loved the 2nd game - maybe it's time to pick this up.

Seriously, get this!!!

I'm 50 hours into my 3rd playthrough, nowhere near the end and I'm still finding new stuff and I still haven't touched the (apparently excellent) expansions!

This is not a "good" game - this is truly an all time Top 100 job, maybe in my top 10 ever. It's incredible and I am only loving it more and more.

Wariospeedwagon wrote:

Childintime wrote:

Yes, I know I can drop in with a pre-levelled Geralt but...I want my own kit and skills.

Good call.  I'd deleted my old saves, and tried playing with the default Geralt.  He doesn't feel like he's my Geralt though, it's just not the same.. 

Yeah, it's weird how much "ownership" I can feel over such a predefined character. Testament to the writing, I suppose.

Wariospeedwagon wrote:

Also, and I say this as a Dragon Age 3 fan - it's hard to remember a game so utterly trumped by another a few short months after its release.  So many dull quests.  You can play half the game listening to podcasts and not miss out on much.

Yeah, I think that's the kicker. FFXII also did the offline MMO trick but worked as there wasn't so much uninspired padding. I think DA:I has some good stuff, but there's just too much boring and forgetable busywork in there. I liked it at first but it quickly became a fetch-quest slog.