Currently Playing - The Bear and Badger

hylian_elf

Hitting the end of Resi 7. Glad retroking replied to my “giving up” comment cos I really enjoyed it last night after giving it another go. Bit just before that was quite dull. I think I’m at the end now.

Minnesänger

Where you at?

retroking1981

Good to hear.

hylian_elf

A bit that reminds me of F.E.A.R a bit. Some girl showed up.

Minnesänger

Oh yeah. Ok. Probably not that far then.

AndCallMeCharlie

Minnesänger wrote:

What kind of party setup you running? You using the pre-made characters or did you build your own?

Pre-made, red lizard prince as the lead then a woman rouge as pain dealer, some guy as ranged / healer and a woman as mage / healer.
Had it on classic mode and was finding it too hard, went down to easy but need to take it up a notch as there isn't any challenge.
Left fort joy and now checking out the surrounding area

AndCallMeCharlie

What's really impressive is the number of solutions to any given problem - so many cool toys to play with like teleportation

Minnesänger

AndCallMeCharlie wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

What kind of party setup you running? You using the pre-made characters or did you build your own?

Pre-made, red lizard prince as the lead then a woman rouge as pain dealer, some guy as ranged / healer and a woman as mage / healer. Had it on classic mode and was finding it too hard, went down to easy but need to take it up a notch as there isn't any challenge. Left fort joy and now checking out the surrounding area

So, I'm assuming:

Red Prince
Sebille
Ifan?
Lohse?

Maybe.

That's a nice group - some great story content there.

AndCallMeCharlie wrote:

What's really impressive is the number of solutions to any given problem - so many cool toys to play with like teleportation

One of my favourite things about Div: OS2 is that it generally keeps to the Dungeons & Dragons playbook of letting players think their way around a problem. In some many games, including classics such as Baldur's Gate 2, a locked door is a locked door. But this game lets you abuse your skills and ideas to break puzzles. Teleportation, as you mention, is a classic example.

I've played through the game 3 times now and i always find new ways to solve encounters.

JonB

JonB wrote:

On to Creature in the Well. I've just done the first two areas and it's definitely growing on me. Some screens seem a bit of a waste but there are some nice little challenges there too. The 'boss' battles have been a highlight. Just a question of whether it can develop the idea much further.

Done the second round of levels and now there's a big jump in difficulty.

Should be good but it's kind of irritating really. Too easy to get boxed in and the long restart time is already proving a headache.

But there are multiple paths open, and I can pick and choose what to do, so that's nice. I was doing every room at first, but now there's quite a few come-back-to-it-laters. I'll try and grab as many energy upgrades as I can before attempting those.

Paul the sparky

Yeah Jon, some of the timed rooms can only be completed after upgrading your cores so don't worry about completing everything first go. The maps are decent, they mark which rooms you need to go back to.

JonB

OK, that's good.

I don't think I like it as much as I'd hoped TBH, but it's good enough to keep going.

Paul the sparky

Shame. It'll probably piss you off later on then.

Moot_Geeza

How long does it take to finish? Wondering if I can squeeze it in before Link's Awakening.

regmcfly

Daemon X Machina is an expected disappointment. I guess given two demos I knew what it would be and while there is some variety in landscape and meching, the general format of every mission is identical. There's no real challenge, and whilst it's fun to toot about, it's just not a great game. A shame as it has the best special edition of this gen by miles.

Paul the sparky

I did it in three small sessions, so probably six hours? I don't know for sure as the time played stat borked and had me down as 24 hours but it was way out. That included getting stuck on a couple of sections, so you could trim that down if you're leet.

Moot_Geeza

Gonna give it an hour in a bit, thanks.

JonB

regmcfly wrote:

Daemon X Machina is an expected disappointment. I guess given two demos I knew what it would be and while there is some variety in landscape and meching, the general format of every mission is identical. There's no real challenge, and whilst it's fun to toot about, it's just not a great game. A shame as it has the best special edition of this gen by miles.

It does get tougher around the middle, once you get into the C rank missions. And then it doesn't really progress from there, becoming a bit of a bore again towards the end.

Moot_Geeza

That's my hour on Creature in the Well, 1hr29mins played so far, two boss battles done. It's weird and I don't love it but I do like it. Not sure I'm playing it properly though, am I supposed to massively favour charging and aiming the shot over parrying? I like the way it doesn't seem to restrict progression. If you've had enough of a screen you can just push on (at this stage anyway).

Paul the sparky

You've got to charge and aim for accuracy or you'll be there all day.

AndCallMeCharlie

Minnesänger wrote:

AndCallMeCharlie wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

What kind of party setup you running? You using the pre-made characters or did you build your own?

Pre-made, red lizard prince as the lead then a woman rouge as pain dealer, some guy as ranged / healer and a woman as mage / healer. Had it on classic mode and was finding it too hard, went down to easy but need to take it up a notch as there isn't any challenge. Left fort joy and now checking out the surrounding area

So, I'm assuming: Red Prince Sebille Ifan? Lohse? Maybe. That's a nice group - some great story content there.

AndCallMeCharlie wrote:

What's really impressive is the number of solutions to any given problem - so many cool toys to play with like teleportation

One of my favourite things about Div: OS2 is that it generally keeps to the Dungeons & Dragons playbook of letting players think their way around a problem. In some many games, including classics such as Baldur's Gate 2, a locked door is a locked door. But this game lets you abuse your skills and ideas to break puzzles. Teleportation, as you mention, is a classic example. I've played through the game 3 times now and i always find new ways to solve encounters.

Yeah thats my guys.
Still loving this, normally hit 10 hours on a rpg and get bored but this is full of surprises and the writing is sublime.
What did you do differently on a second / third play through?

Minnesänger

Just different solutions to certain missions, as well as bypassing obstacles in different ways. Plus, there were multiple quests I only found on my third playthrough despite thinking I scoured the entire area.

Plus, depending on what happens with certain characters in early acts, later conversations and encounters can play out differently. Especially if you get characters talking and use stealth / pickpocketing abilities to gain keys and such early. Or, you know, kill everyone. Which is possible.

I'm reluctant to go into too many details, as you're still early, but I'll happily talk specifics if you've a particular person or mission in mind. Otherwise I'll wait until you're later in the game. But trust me, there's a whole lot of "holy shit!" once you realise how differently things could happen.

And yes, the writing is sublime.

AndCallMeCharlie

Cheers, I am back on a big boat now - in the middle of a HUGE fight

Minnesänger

I know exactly the fight you mean. Good luck Charlie.

Moot_Geeza

Paul the sparky wrote:

I did it in three small sessions, so probably six hours? I don't know for sure as the time played stat borked and had me down as 24 hours but it was way out. That included getting stuck on a couple of sections, so you could trim that down if you're leet.

Another section done, took roughly half an hour. So I'm up to 25hrs 30mins according to Time Played on the stats page.

JonB

I just finished it. 97% done and in only... 35 hours.

Facewon

Forgot I'm on game pass now. Works on pc.

Prey, citw, reCore, and another few that have been on the steam wishlist for a while added.

Yes, PCs can be more expensive on the initial outlay, even with gurt help, but goddamn you can have more games than you know what to do with quickly for nothing.

Yossarian

I’ve already got that TBH.

acemuzzy

Those are all in Bone, fwiw. Plenty of PC only gamepass shizzle tho.

Facewon

Yeah, I know. Its more that it comes to pc, where I already have epic games store, steam sales, humble bundle and a handful of other ways of getting cheap/free games that's the thing.

I mean, I'm well and truly at a point, even giving games short shrift and even though I have a large number of short/indy style things that I will never get through the pile o shame.

That more and more quality, and recently released quality, is coming through is also freakin cool

Anyhoo.

AndCallMeCharlie

@Minnesänger - any other RPG's you can recommend after this?
Pillars of Eternity? Neverwinter Nights? Planescape: Torment?

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories