The "What are you playing now?" Thread

[Walter White]

2k, Battlefront, and Just Cause are my must haves. I was going to pre order all of them but I think I'll just pre order 2k (probably the MJ edition).

I was going to pre order Battlefront and JC3 but there really isn't much incentive too that I see. You don't get anything that special so I might as well wait a couple weeks for the price to drop on Ebay or Amazon.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Haven't watched anything on Mad Max. Last thing I need is another game to buy this Fall. Between starting up Witcher 3, and then MGSV, Fallout 4, Halo 5 all coming out this Fall...not to mention games I'm still on the ledge about like Just Cause 3, Battlefront, and Rainbow Six. I mean Christ. No way I'm gonna have time to play all of these.

I've been watching some gameplay videos and it really looks like a lot of fun. What sucks is it's yet another open world game, although for Mad Max at least that actually makes some fucking sense.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7uWr1bJvw0


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvvUKnL456g


By the way, if anyone is preordering some games for PC, there's a 23% off voucher on the main site of Green Man Gaming (at least on my screen):
http://www.greenmangaming.com/?gmgr=vucawoke

I normally don't pre-order unless I can get a nice discount on the game, and 23% off is pretty solid.

 

[FiveThous]

OK Xbox One people, I need a game simialr to Mass Effect. Is there anything similar I can just waste hours on?

I've played Tomb Raider and Far Cry and didn't get more than 5-10 hours in to them.

 

[Chris]

Looks interesting but unless it gets insane rave reviews I probably won't check it out.

 

[Chris]

OK Xbox One people, I need a game simialr to Mass Effect. Is there anything similar I can just waste hours on?

I've played Tomb Raider and Far Cry and didn't get more than 5-10 hours in to them.

Far Cry 4 was amazing. You didn't like it?

Uhh, Witcher 3? Dragon Age Inquisition? Not sure what kind of stuff you like.

 

[Jack Brickman]

OK Xbox One people, I need a game simialr to Mass Effect. Is there anything similar I can just waste hours on?

I've played Tomb Raider and Far Cry and didn't get more than 5-10 hours in to them.

Similar to Mass Effect? Not much out there that I can think of that combines that kind of story-telling with an action/adventure game, especially on the Xbone. I guess Dragon Age: Inquisition, as it's made by the same company. The story isn't nearly as compelling as Mass Effect's (minus the ending, of course) and the gameplay isn't nearly as fun, but it's a similar style of RPG where you're constantly making choices in dialogue and what not.

It's not really a similar game, but a lot of people, myself included, like Shadow of Mordor. It's more like one of the Batman Arkham games, only an RPG and set in Middle Earth, though.

Witcher 3 is an obvious choice if you want a grand, huge RPG with tons to do and a great story. You make similar types of decisions, although they're often a lot more subtle in Witcher 3. The gameplay is a lot different, which you'd expect given that it's a fantasy game and not a sci-fi shooter.

If you want a single-player game with a good story, you could check out Wolfenstein: The New Order. It got great reviews and has a surprisingly great single-player story despite the absurd premise.

That's pretty much all I got. Surprised you didn't like Tomb Raider, though. I thought it was a great reboot to that series, and I'm someone who hated the old Tomb Raider games for a multitude of reasons (mostly that they were borderline unplayable). I can see why someone wouldn't like Far Cry 4, though. That game just shoves so much shit at you to do that it can be totally overwhelming. I had trouble getting into it as well, although I think that's mostly because I'd already played Far Cry 3 and it's basically the same game.

 

[FiveThous]

Far Cry 4 was amazing. You didn't like it?

Uhh, Witcher 3? Dragon Age Inquisition? Not sure what kind of stuff you like.

I tried to like it but some of the missions that were back to bakc felt like chores and bored me. I've heard a few good things a out dragon age.

I'm starting to wonder if I just don't like video games anymore.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I tried to like it but some of the missions that were back to bakc felt like chores and bored me. I've heard a few good things a out dragon age.

I'm starting to wonder if I just don't like video games anymore.

If I were you, I'd get Witcher 3 like 100 times out of 100 over Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's just a significantly better game. The story and writing are miles above that of Inquisition, and the combat feels way more involved and visceral. I won't say the gameplay is amazing, as it's a little clunky. Inquisition is definitely smoother when it comes to controlling your character, but Witcher 3 is just better.

Probably the best example is the sidequests. In Inquisition, sidequests are mostly just busy work. Find 10 of this. Find 10 of that. Go there and fetch that vase. You get the idea. Witcher 3 has some of that, but generally speaking the sidequests are written well enough that it doesn't really matter. You feel like your character has a sense of purpose when he does things, as he's rarely just fetching meaningless objects for people. The missions tend to be consistent with the type of character Geralt is. He has a role in the world and people other than his friends don't really send him on menial tasks. Also, some of the sidequests are very long and involved, like the Bloody Baron stuff (only some of which is required for the main quest if I recall correctly) and basically everything with Keira Metz.

The whole Bloody Baron story alone contains better writing than most other entire games I've played, and it's just a small chunk of the game.

 

[FiveThous]

Went to Craigslist, offers out on Watchdogs and Witcher 3

 

[FiveThous]

Picking up Watchdogs for $10 today.

Lined up picking up Witcher 3 for $30 next week.

 

[Chris]

Just finished GTAV. Goddam. Have to say, one of the best games I have ever played. Not overrated at all. Just an absolute gem of a video gaming experience. I hope Witcher 3 matches it.

Can't wait to see what is in store for GTA6. Ending of this one was almost bittersweet. Got pretty attached to the characters. They were a joy to watch as the story unfolded.

Spoiler on the endings quick:

Spoiler

Did like, ANYONE choose any option other than the 'Deathwish' ending? Killing Michael or Trevor, despite all the shit that went down, just seemed so...wrong. I don't know how I could have gone through with either one of those. I think that was intentional, because they made all of the other guys so unlikeable that you were itching to off them. The most satisfying part of that game was the ending, pulling off the big heist and then systematically exterminating Cheng, Stretch, Weston, Haines, all the 'villains' that had been on your ass throughout the game.

Just don't see how it was ever going to go down any other way, but I guess it's cool they had two other options.

Anyways, games like that remind me while I still play video games at 26 years old.

 

[Jack Brickman]

So I went ahead and pre-ordered Mad Max with that 23% off coupon from Green Man Gaming that I had. I wouldn't have pre-ordered it at sixty bucks, but $46 seems reasonable, as that's around the price it will probably be when it inevitably goes on sale a month or two after launch. I was going to pre-order The Phantom Pain on PC, but Green Man Gaming isn't offering it for sale yet, and I don't really see a huge reason to pre-order it on Steam at full price. Hopefully GMG tosses it up for sale sometime before launch and I can grab it with a coupon as well.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Picking up Watchdogs for $10 today.

Lined up picking up Witcher 3 for $30 next week.

I don't think you'll regret picking up Witcher 3. I'm notoriously bad about buying games and never getting around to playing them significant time, and I'm already 62 hours deep in this game. I actually took some time off from it after getting back from Europe at the end of June, but I started playing again tonight. I definitely intend to finish it. I doubt I'll 100% it (meaning seeking out all the question marks on the map), as that would take an absurd amount of time (estimate is like 200 hours I think), but I would like to finish most of the side quests since they are generally well-written.

I would recommend either reading up or watching some YouTube summary videos on the first two games, though, as a lot of the characters from those games pop up in the third game and they don't really go out of their way to explain how Geralt (one of the two playable characters, and the main character in the previous two games) knows them. Geralt has also been involved in a lot of political stuff in the past two games, so a little knowledge will really help you understand who he is and why so many important people in the game world know him.

You could also read some summaries of the novels the games are based off of, although I wouldn't say that's required. The game contains the key characters from the novels, but having read two of them (there are four or five translated to English at this point), I wouldn't say it's required reading. Still, reading some summaries couldn't hurt.

 

[Jack Brickman]

So I just got to a section in Witcher 3 where you get drunk with some fellow witchers in Kaer Morhen (the witcher fortress) and, holy shit, it might be the one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen in a video game. It's just some friends getting wasted, but it felt totally natural, which is strange because movies and (especially) games almost never get that right. It's a really funny scene and doesn't really fit the overall tone of the game, but it just works because it feels so natural.

Just goes to show how amazing the writing in Witcher 3 is. They totally nailed the scene and even made me laugh out loud, which is extremely rare in a video game.

The most impressive part is that the segment it like ten to fifteen minutes long and it's pure dialogue (aside from a short game of cards, should you choose to play), but I didn't even care. I like the characters and enjoyed seeing them interact like people would. That's what makes this game so great. The characters, even though they're in an unrealistic fantasy setting and (some of them) have strange powers, feel like actual people.

Fantastic scene. I wish more games would include stuff like that.

Edit: And just generally speaking, forgot how great Witcher 3 is. Tonight was the first time I've played it since I got back from my trip at the end of June (Arkham Knight had come out at that point, and I swapped to that and never got back into Witcher 3 mode). Slipped my mind how addictive it is. Meant to play for an hour or so and played for like three. Definitely my game of the year unless something this fall is truly amazing.

 

[Jack Brickman]

So I got pretty good at this whole gwent thing in Witcher 3...

By the way, it's insane how overpowered the Nilfgaard card faction is in gwent. I don't think I've lost a game in the past twenty hours or so of playing Witcher 3, and I play it relatively frequently (every time I meet a merchant I haven't played before, in fact). I'm pretty sure the last time I actually lost was in the big tournament at the Pasiflora, and I went into that with a weak set of cards (relative to my deck now).

Spy cards are just so fucking powerful. If you get a lucky draw with two or three of them in your hand, you've basically won the game already. Combine that with a decoy that you can use to swap out an opponent spy card if they play one, and the Nilfgaard leader card that lets you steal a card from an opponent's discard pile (hint: steal back one of your spy cards), and it's damn near impossible to lose unless you get absolutely fucked on a draw.

I remember how frustrating gwent was when I was just starting out in the game. Now my entire hand is typically a decoy, a scorch, a commander horn, spies, medics, and heroes.