The Gaming Thread

Ghost of Tsushima is in my top 10 games of all time. It's just incredible. Great mechanics and combat, and visually it's simply stunning. And yeah, the wind thing is way cooler than having some lame HUD or something. A very creative way to integrate a standard gaming feature that feels necessary nowadays. Enjoy the game!

I'm a good five weeks into my Horizon: Forbidden West playthrough. It's really quite fun. Games in 4K on a big screen looks pretty damn nice. I have some minor nitpicks but overall it's a solid open-world RPG. It's a pretty big game, so I've got plenty of time to think about what I might want to play next.

 

I've got Ghost of Tsushima the second it was out for PC (although I already watched a let's play back in 2020 so I know how good it is), but for now it's on hold because I'm busy with Elden Ring. I'm overleveled and DLC ready but there is still stuff to do (Fire Giant and everything he blocks, Deeproot, Snowfield, Haligtree).

 

Star Wars: Squadrons has been in my PS+ library for a while now, but I finally got around to trying it out last week. Multiplayer seems dead, but the story was a fun ride. My only complaint is the campaign would have a stronger sense of finality if it had continued to the Battle of Jakku. Otherwise, one of the multiplayer modes can be played entirely against AIs, so at least the online component isn’t totally useless.

 

The Switch 2 was just announced. I'm not very impressed though. It doesn't really feel like a new console at all.

That's because it isn't. It can play most original Switch games. It will probably have the same OS and very, very similar but more powerful hardware. It would be no surprise at all if developers continue to make original Switch software because so many people own one. More potential buyers!

But this isn't really a new strategy for Nintendo, so I'm not surprised. They've been doing this for decades. They'll come up with a great console and they'll spend years upgrading it and refining it while they think of something new entirely.

They are probably being even more cautious this time though. This "refreshing an already successful console" strategy didn't always work. Think of the Wii U. It made them dirt in comparison to the original Wii, which sold like hotcakes. And for good reason. I loved the original Wii.

I don't think I'll get one... maybe I'll just get one for my younger sister though. My original Switch works and my DSi is still very fun to play.

 

Yeah, I'm not really excited about it either. Switch 1 still works great. I'm guessing Nintendo will start making new games exclusively for the Switch 2 in a year or two, and that's when I might have to scoop one up. Also - Switch 2 is a lame name. Should've gone with the Super Switch.

 

They've never named anything a "2". They've always had cool names.

The Gameboy's refreshment wasn't called Gameboy 2. It was called the Gameboy Advance.

Same with the Wii. It wasn't the Wii 2, it was the Wii U.

The DS's refreshment was called DSi.

And the 3DS's refreshment was called New 3DS.

Here is the thing. A lot of people, including myself, didn't really see these consoles as " new" or "original".

The DSi was my first console. But I never viewed it as anything more than a DS. The "i" didn't matter much. Anything the DSi could play, the DS could even though it was less powerful. Why? Because developers continued to release with the original DS in mind. A lot of people owned it so more buyers.

And if there were DSi games, developers often made them playable for the DS. Some features would be disabled but the games would be playable.

The Switch 2 is different though because it's not supposed to be a refreshment, it's supposed to be a successor.

The Wii U was a successor to the Wii as well rather than just a refreshment. But the Wii U was a completely different console. The Switch 2 isn't.

Only time will tell us how different it is from the original. But from the leaks and what we know about the hardware, it isn't that different architecturally. It still has those same mobile Nvidia chips. It'll probably run the same OS as well.

That's why it falls closed to the category of refreshments rather than that of successors. Nintendo called it a successor though so we, in fact, know that this is how the company wants to market it.

If the Switch 2 doesn't end up selling well, mark my words, many companies will continue to make original Switch software. This is a real danger. And I'm sure Nintendo has thoroughly planned against it. Let's see if they did it right.

Long post! Sorry. Nintendo does fascinate me.

 

Played through Phantom Liberty, the Cyberpunk 2077 Expansion.

You did not notice it was DLC, it was so well integrated to the game. Perhaps even better than the standard. One of the endings were way hard, though.

Cyberpunk can be so immersive and fun. Driving around in the rain, you feel like you're there.

 

I am so happy you enjoyed the DLC. They tend to be a mixed bag. So, what is Cyberpunk 2077 about and what style of game is it?

You lost me there. I am SO bad at driving in video games. In Assassin's Creed Syndicate, I full gave up and just plowed through everyone and anything. (Weird how that actually worked.) In GTA 5, the first driving section left my hot rod car looking like a hunk of metal. I ended up following the driving laws, because trying to drive like I usually did resulted in a mess.

 

In the last 24 hours I have concluded that Ornstein, Smough, and I are in a Bad Romance. Why? Because every time I start a new game, I'm like: "I can't wait to fight them! I love this battle and they're my best boys!"

When get to the boss fight: *Gets steamrolled and skewered like kabab.* "I hate you motherfuckers! This is impossible!! Why are my best boys so mean to me?!! Why did I pick this weapon?! It sucks!!!"

After I win after way too many attempts: "OMG! I love this fight. I wish I could do it again."

 

@Gravy
Cyberpunk is a futuristic corporate dystopia, where the world is basically run by corporations. You have neon lights all over the place along with technology integrated into the body, such as a personal link that is like an usb with a cable attached to your forearm. You can have something like blades surgically inserted into your arms. Or legs that allow you to jump higher. Most cyberwear isn't visual, just imrpoves your stats.

The game also has a lot of interesting slang, such as eddies for Eurodollars, gonk for idiot/dumbass, and klep as in steal (you guessed it, a play on kleptomania).

Yeah driving can be hard in games. I usually drive in first person in cyberpunk, and when you drive a long distance, you're almost bound to crash into something.

But sitting there, first person, inside a vehicle in the rain, it's real nice chooms!

 

That sounds like an amazing game. I like the setting a lot (oddly relatable, I feel?) So, what does your character look like and what are your current stats? What type of build do you enjoy playing?

Yes, I like the slang. Sci-fi slang is hit or miss for me most of the time. But I think the logical connections make this slag work.

I can see where that is relaxing. Want to share a pic of your sweet ride?

 

@Gravy
Got no screens right now.

My vehicle is a Chevillon Thrax 388 Jefferson, an image search will show you how awesome it looks. There are a lot of crazy looking cars in Cyberpunk.

My character is a young guy with short grey hair. No idea about the stats, I usually do not play to min/max or optimize my builds, just to have some fun. My current character has "mantis blades" which is the arm blades I spoke of and is mostly built for close combat. I run around with a revolver, shotgun, and light machine gun as well.

It is a very fun game, and the story is pretty awesome as well.

 

I really enjoyed Cyberpunk. Mostly because I started playing it several years after a brutal launch where some 30K of purchasers opted to accept a refund. After they fixed it up, well it's rad. The world reminds me a lot of Blade Runner. Lots of action, plenty of shootouts, and you get to have some fun with vehicles. I'm not a race sim person at all, but I found the controls quite realistic. It wasn't too tough to drive with the flow of traffic, though of course it's a lot more fun to drive like a maniac.

 

I finally figured it out.
I finally figured out WHY Elden Ring seems harder than DS1 and what bothers me about it. I am glad I HAVE the game and I LOVE playing. But something has seemed off to me for awhile. It wasn't until 5 minutes ago that I realized what my issue is with the game:

It's impossible to have a straight Melee Build.

You can't just hit things with your sword.

You need SOME status effect, or buff, because the bosses are too beefy. Sure, I could spend 30 minutes fighting Margit, but I don't have that kind of time. I could get from the Asylum Demon to Qualaag in the same amount of time. (Sure, it's because it's easier when you know the game.) But what I am saying is, I can fight Orenstein and Smough with a +10 weapon with NO effects and still win. I most recently used a Painting Guardian Sword (which has bleed, true.) +10 with NO fire, lightning, or magic damage buff and won.

I have also used the Black Knight Sword +3 with NO buffs. (Which is yes, a +11, technically.)

(Both of these wins were solo!)

Elden Ring, I am moving toward a twinblade Bleed Build, because without some status effect, this game will take FOREVER. I TRIED with a regular Zweihander, the King of Ultra Swords in Ds1 and it's just NOT as good as I want it to be. Also, I kinda hate crafting, so the less I can do with it the better. When I craft in games, I want SO many items I can't risk running out. (It's like stocking the pantry for the end of the world.)

Also, the Time-Duration on Buffs are NOT worth it to me.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.

 

Hard disagree! Elden Ring is by far the most forgiving of Soulsborne games, and it's not close. I won't dig into the many reasons why, but the main one is, if you are stuck on a boss, you can go do other things for a while and get stronger. Margit is the prime example for me, and it sounds like to you as well. You're simply not ready for Margit and that's 100% okay. I wasted time trying to beat him way too early as well. This is the open world Soulsborne game. Go explore, I swear it's the best thing at this stage if you are stuck on Margit.

Today was the first time I tried using grease on my sword. It was against Decaying Ekzykes, a very powerful dragon. It did give me more damage, but ultimately I just needed to fight him better. It was one of my longest boss attempts thus far - took me about 40 minutes to get him, even though I got him down to the last 2 hits on my second try. You don't need buffs when you can use summons, which help a ton. And being able to summon your horse is essential for dragon fights.

I think I know exactly what you need. It's the best sword that has carried me through the early to mid-game. It's Bloodhound's Fang, a possibly OP curved greatsword that has helped me cruise through many difficult scenarios. My build is based on strength, then dex. Pure melee. You can find this sword in Limgrave's Evergaol if you can beat the boss there. He's pretty tough, but the game will get much easier for you once you've won that sword, lemme tell you.

 

@Set2Stun I think the open world is kinda messing me up. Because I don't know where to go or whatnot. I still think the SPEED of the bosses is what get me. I have the Jellyfish and he's useful. But I think at the core of this is my feeling I am not good enough at this game. Which I know will take time. Just like Ds1. (Also, Margit's long dead. So is Godrick.)

Anyway, I got the Bloodhound Fang. I just stunned the guy to death with my Zwei. (Seriously. It was like 5 hits or less to kill him.) I will give the Bloodhound Fang a try here. It might be what I need.

But one thing that annoys me is that I THINK I messed up my weapon upgrades. Because Smithing stones seem to be pretty rare. (Yes, I can go to a mine, did that. Get the ball bearing, tried and tried.) But what annoys me is that I feel locked into certain weapons because I upgraded too many to try them out.

Anyway, I really appreciate your help and I am so glad to hear you are having an easy time. Where are you currently?

 

Yeah the jellyfish is what helped me finally beat Leonine Misbegotten, who killed me so many times. A perfect distraction for the fastest boss I've come across thus far. You'll find far more effective summons soon I'm sure. Ancestral Follower is one of my go-tos (has a bow!) - you can get him from the Siofra River area. The main guy I use now is Banished Knight Engvall. Really good offense and he can take a lot of hits.

Bloodhound Fang is great as it has a lot of reach and is faster than your typical greatsword. And the special attack, chef's kiss. L2 for the first hit, then R2 right after for a teleport and a second hit. I leveled up the generic "Greatsword" to +11 and it does hella damage, but it's very slow, so I don't use it as my main weapon - it's just for specialty situations. It's great for staggering tough enemies that the Fang won't stagger. If smithing stones are still hard to come by, you must not have met the giant troll guy outside of Caria Manor. He's got plenty to sell. It was one of the areas I randomly stumbled upon while exploring.

The last thing I've been doing is clearing out Caelid, the place that's infested with the scarlet rot. The main story seems to be pointing me there to attend some festival but I haven't found where to go for that just yet. So I finished up Sellia and did some side quests, and killed that really tough dragon. I'll be going back there this weekend to find that festival and hopefully get my third great rune.

 

Jelly IS a champ! (I call him Jelly.) I saw someone on Reddit talking about how he and Jelly were buddies and traveled together though the game. It was really cute. And good job with Leoine! He is very fast. Did you have the Bloodhound fang back then?

 

Nope, I was still using the Great Épée back then. That sword served me well in the early game, especially when the battle axe proved too slow against some enemies. But discovering the Fang changed everything and I haven't really looked back. I upgraded the Golden Halberd a bit and have tried that one out, but I always keep going back to Fang. It rocks.

 

I got but didn't use the Epee. I am so glad you really like the Fang. I am slowly falling in love with the Twinblades. Also, tomorrow I get to play more Elden Ring, which is exciting! I have 2 mini-bosses to beat up to get the items I need for the build I am working toward.



The build might be a little outdated, but I am excited to try something new.

What build are you going for? And yeah, some weapons are oddly slow.

 

For these kinds of games, I always lean into giant weapons wielded with both hands. I know I should be more creative and try more magic stuff, but I just love smackin' enemies about with melee, and I'm just good at it for some reason. Never been much of a shield person as my first Soulsborne game was Bloodborne. I've popped up my Faith a little (15-ish) so I can use some basic spells like cure poison (getting poisoned sucks!!), but I'm strength first, then dex. Think it's like 34 and 22 respectively right now, something like that.

Enjoy your ER day tomorrow! Can't wait for mine on Saturday.

 

I am similar to you. I love strength and always 2-hand, turtle-back. I understand about magic. I want to try it, but it seems boring when I can use a big sword. Oh, how did you like Bloodborne? And how scary is it? I don't do well with horror games.

Poison sucks, agreed.

Oh, I can get you my stats tomorrow, if you want.

And thanks! I hope I will. Tell me all about yours too! I want to know what you did and where you traveled!