SomTervo

What does Rifle Spear scale with? V tempting! The alt charged R2 attacks are always ftw. Yes, I was going to say about the fire and bolt paper! I beat Vicar Amelia and Blood-starved Beast last night by whipping them both into submission while my weapon was on fire. Is that what the 'Arcane scaling' stat means? That it scales well with elemental effects? Looks like you lucked out with the screens. Mine are never that good.

It's too legit... On topic: It was a dimly lit, sweaty room, where the two men liaised for the first time in their lives... I present to you KENSHI AND DEAN IN THE FLESHH (The lighting was seriously terrible) (And we weren't supposed to take pictures in there so it was kinda done underhand)

Yeah sorry, I meant that's what I hear from KBM users. Apparently it's way easy and insanely responsive.

We're all PS4 I'm afraid, Chopin! I just realised I can't do this Saturday either, Eleven. I'll be out of the city. Fie.

Yes, NF can fuck off. I also beat that boss with Ludvig's blade. It is the total best ever.It carried me through the last few hours of the game, except odd occasions where i needed the axe's pole- two-hand reach. I think that boss took me 2-3 tries. Gotta focus on dem forearms. I forsee a lot of challenges with the cane. I hear its worth holding out for the blades of mercy if you're a Skill build.

That sounds fair enough. It's definitely not for everyone. Others have probably said it to you already, but I'll say again anyway: A pro-tip in Souls is just to run past any enemies you can't be bothered dealing with. It's very valid, practically essential tactic when a boss keeps knocking you back. The levels almost always have short cuts/shorter paths to let you get to the boss quickly again. A lot of people were complaining about this elsewhere and then folk just go "run past the enemies, you'll get there in about 30 seconds" and the people with complaints were like "oh, cool, thanks". Knowing the level design, then being really relaxed and familiar with it, is 70% of the challenge thrown before you in the games. It's still a totally legit argument that this could be stupid design though. If the game actually said 'just run past enemies you don't need to fight anymore', it would be a lot easier to digest. But I suppose that would ruin the sense of player agency and freedom the games offer. It's also worth noting that Bloodborne has tiny levels in comparison to Souls. Seriously like BB is physically about half the size of Dark Souls' world. It's a lot tighter, more refined and efficient. The longest you'll have to go before you get to a shortcut is probably a couple of minutes on foot, then there's a shortcut (an elevator, a ladder, etc) to remove that couple of minutes and get you back to spawn. There's always a shortcut which gets you decently close to the boss, then you can just run past all the bad guys and be there momentarily. It goes very much against traditional game design, but that's what these games are all about really. You have to unlearn what you expect to do a lot of the time. When you get in the mindset and start overcoming things off your own initiative, it's goddamn amazing.

Yussssssssssssssss Edit: that would have been insane. And very un-Bioware.

Wait, y'what?! Are you saying that in games your equipment choice doesn't matter because it's mainly aesthetic, or that people make the decision based on what looks good? If the former, then that just ain't true! (Of Bloodborne at least.) But if you're saying that people make decisions which aren't practical in the long-run, choosing what looks good, then fair enough. I'm saying that people, mainly myself, make the decision based primarily on aesthetics. I don't care if that armor's better, if it looks stupid I ain't wearing it. Sound. In BB, armour is largely meaningless. Wear whatever looks cool. It's a series-long trend – hence the nickname 'Fashion Souls' used by many. Did you play much Souls, MEth? Weapons in BB are all-important though. They all look pretty badass but have hugely different movesets and quirks. Equipment in terms of armour - do what ya like. Equipment in terms of weapons - these can make fights incredibly easy or incredibly difficult. Make a huge difference. At a certain point looks have to stop mattering!

I just started playing OoT for the first time last night while catching up on Game of Thrones. It's a pretty phenomenal adventure. And I'm not even out of Kokiri Forest yet. (Or whatever it's called). The story is basic indeed, but it feels basic more in the style of Shadow of the Colossus than a bad story. It has a kind of timeless, essential mythological feel, with surprising dark moments, like the Deku tree dying right after it helps you, or Link crying in his bed because he doesn't have a fairy. It's like legit decent fairytale stuff. The graphics thing is a non-issue for me. Slightly off-topic explanation in the spoilertag. The design of the world is fantastic. I really miss this old school, open approach to level design. I feel that Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy may have been the last of this kind, bar some very recent developments (AAA like Sunset Overdrive and indie). Like Ratchet and Clank never seemed to capture that sense of freedom or fun, of having no clear direction in which to go but always stuff to find if you just did it. In a platforming context, I mean. The level design in OoT is sublime - simple, clear, but exciting and enjoyable to navigate. The way the puzzles tie in seamlessly is beautiful, too. The main thing is, though, that I'm having some damn good fun. It's just nice to be in a well designed platforming/puzzling environment that doesn't hold my hand. One that gives you freedom to move around how you please in large areas and approach combat often on your own terms. It has a fantastic sense of adventure. My opinion might change as I go on. I'll keep you posted. But as I feel right now, it deserves most of the praise it gets. Plus what others said. For a game on what is clearly a miniscule amount of memory, it achieves some pretty great graphical things. The aesthetic direction is also fantastic. Some of those rasterised backgrounds, though... Holy shit Edit: once I finish this I think I might have to get the Okami remaster. Seems like that would be right up my alley considering how much I'm enjoying OoT.

Cool man! +8 is pretty gnarly, though. I'll get back to you later. Weekends sound like the only good time, but I usually spend all weekend with my partner. Saturday afternoon could be a good option? My gf is at yoga/out for a run between about 11 and 12.45 every Saturday.

Yeah so I've heard – is it a free DLC? If so then I'm a hundred times more likely to jump back in

I know you can mess her limbs up and then visceral her head while it's down. So maybe I should just Oil Urn and Molotov her until she is stunned. I don't know if she's parry-able at all That's so weird. I'm a top-hat and cane kinda gal, too. New character is at least. And I think the lack of whip-mode charge is forgivable for neither form being two-handed. Wait, y'what?! Are you saying that in games your equipment choice doesn't matter because it's mainly aesthetic, or that people make the decision based on what looks good? If the former, then that just ain't true! (Of Bloodborne at least.) But if you're saying that people make decisions which aren't practical in the long-run, choosing what looks good, then fair enough. In BB any weapon is good enough to get you to the end of the game. But they have very different strengths and weaknesses. My first character was an axe wielder. Axe is slow but high-damage. So I let the boss in question do a big dramatic attack, then in her cooldown animation I'd hit her with a charged-up, high-damage strike. However, against fast-moving bosses, it wasn't that great and I had to use other strategies. My new character uses the Threaded Cane (root form is a walking cane but transforms into a bladed whip - so badass). In whip-mode it has massive range and massive attack arcs, but it doesn't have a big damage ratio. In cane mode it does decent damage, but is literally like two feet long, so you have to be toe-to-toe with foes to get a good hit in. This weapon nailed the first two faster-moving bosses with ease, but against the boss in question, getting in close to do high damage isn't an option, because after my charged cane attack, I can't make some distance quickly enough to dodge her counter attack. Having said that, though, any boss is beatable if you dodge well enough. You're invincible for a few frames when dodging, so I just need to learn her counter attack moves better then whittle away at her health. As usual, I just need to git gud.

I suppose it does tie to the resource building aspect - my main point was that it sounds like they're dumping the ME2 scanning/resource system entirely and going back to the Mako on-ground system. The Mako itself isn't used in colony-making, they say the planets will feature side quests with alien races, and chances are we'll be able to explore the planets/get around with the Mako to do this. I remember quite a few ME1 side quests where we had to drive the Mako from base to base on certain planets, or use it to get to certain side quests on a planet's surface. I think the idea is that you drive around on a planet, do a sidequest, then the planet becomes a 'colony' (ie we set a human colony/embassy/mine up on it).

Afraid not, Deanio! The leak details Mako. Apparently you'll be able to seamlessly walk about your ship, land on planets, get out your ship, get into the Mako, drive around on the surface, yadda yadda. Same goes for docking with space stations. Mako was a nice idea implemented like shit. If they do it right, it could be great. And the resource stuff isn't resource-based. It's side-quest based. The idea is that you go to a planet, help the inhabitants out, and then that planet is now a 'colony' or 'station'. Then you get resources. But periodically, randomly generated events will happen to them, and if you don't go help them (in person or via Strike Team) you'll stop getting the resources. None of it is confirmed, obviously. But all sounds like a very nice evolution of the series' mechanics. Good shout about the Dragon Age Inquisition war room. Sounds v similar

Looks great man. I may join tonight. What sort of times are you online, Eleven?

Holy nuts! By sheer chance I never saw that shit. Crazy. My new character is up to about level 34 or 35 btw. If you want to co-op, invite me to your party and we can organise a password. I'm having trouble with Vicar Amelia, which is funny because she was pretty easy for my first character. I chatted to my pal about it and the consensus seems to be that Amelia is difficult with the Threaded Cane. It doesn't do high damage, it's a range and crowd-control sort of weapon. But Amelia is a serious damage-sponge of a boss, so I need to hit her loads of times to finish her off. Difficult.

So, yeah, as per my status, Mass Effect 4 potentially just leaked. Some pretty amazing info if true. Sounds a lot like they took a few steps towards Elite-style systemic stuff. I'm excited alone by how it's largely been untied from the main canon and is now just about 'stranger in a strange land' Star Trek-style explore this galaxy and discover stuff. Real exciting. 100s of planets, too, and clearly more freedom to do what you will. Edit: would help if I put the source link here. A lot more info within: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1031314 An especially interesting/exciting thing is that, as you discover and protect worlds across the galaxy, you don't just forget about them and move on. They will dynamically encounter disasters/attacks, at random and randomly generated, and you'll have to create and dispatch a Strike Team to go and protect them. Manage your Strike Team well enough, and you'll keep the planet safe and get bonuses for doing this. Just like the Assassin's Creed Assassin Guild stuff, which never reached its full potential. Sounds like Bioware are taking that template and running with it to the endzone. But on top of that you can choose to actually go on the Strike Team yourself and do the mission, bringing friends with for co-op (and higher difficulty). A lot of potential here. I couldn't even finish Mass Effect 3. It was great but all the noise about the ending really deflated my experience. I need to go back actually - that's a monolith in my backlog, tbh.

Welp, it's the first Souls game I've ever finished (having played DeS and DaS a lot but never having the grit to follow through), and yes it's phenomenal. It actually felt easy by the end, and I finished the last couple of bosses without dying. Go figure. I wasn't sure what to expect from the ending, and I shouldn't have expected anything. These games aren't about the story, even if some story is present. There are several endings, too, with no direction on how to get each one. Basically you finish the boss for your ending, and the game just goes 'well done you, now try again' and plonks you right back at the start for NG+. No pomp or circumstance about it. I immediately started a new character with a new skill build and sunk another three hours in, defeating the first two bosses with one life. Can't remember the last game that made me feel like starting over the instant I finished. Negatives: there aren't many, except that the breadth of options and freedom of playstyles from Souls is very much missing. In Souls you could go range, armour, shield, agile, magic or traditional. The areas were often hugely open and would connect to two or three others at once. In Bloodborne there's basically a handful of weapons, which all play very differently, and it's all close combat. The areas are far smaller, but quite a lot denser (and I think there's more of them than Souls but about 60% of Bloodborne is optional and I missed a lot of it.) I suppose it's a nice change though, it doesn't feel like a fantasy RPG anymore, it just feels like a great dark-action adventure game. This was also really, really good. I can't say it was great because of Telltale's penchant for not fully committing to player agency - but this game put it across far better than The Walking Dead did in many ways. For one thing, the noir crime procedural style works really well in its favour. Unlike TWD where each choice and situation is basically unique, in TWAU there's a real sense that 'asking the right questions' will get you where you need to go. Yet you'll inevitably mess up and have a lot of salty relationships by the end. Some of the game choices are terrific though, and real head-scratchers. Some excellent twists and great characters and great writing. All round good times. Why the hell is the performance so shitty, though? There's just no excuse at this stage. So much juddering and slow load times for really simple cel shaded graphic (albeit some nice lighting). Great to hear these opinions, Gerbil. Glad you liked Ico so much - my gf couldn't really get into it and I know of a lot of people who really didn't like it. It hasn't aged as well as Shadow of the Colossus, which is the true classic and a masterpiece on par with MGS3 and Silent Hill 2. Also, yes, Uncharted 2 is the best in that series so far. That's also the only one which is a masterpiece, UC1 and 3 being nice, but very flawed adventures. I'm proud of how much I've been getting done of my backlog, too! I'll be playing almost exclusively Xbox 360 games for the next month... he says in hope Yeah, I was digging the level design of Dead Kings far more, too. I need to finish it but I don't really consider DLC as part of my backlog, so it's not a priority.

Really?! On my first playthrough, i ran out of blood vials 3-4 times , but i never ran out of bullets on e! Oh yeah... I finished it last night. Wow Though i did miss at least 7 bosses/areas and get the mediocre ending, not the true one. Immediately started a new character with a different skill build. So amazing. Threaded cane is brilliant.

Need to play that DLC. On topic, i think later this year is going to be a stunning season for gaming if DE:MD comes out then. MD's potential is so high anyway

The quality of gunplay sounds like a game changer on PC. Some folk saying it makes the thing so easy it's like having a cheat on

I love that the game managed to foster discussions like this. Imho it's a big success on some level that you're chatting about it like that – even if your discussion is mostly confusion It is certainly one of the best almost-fourth-wall breaking endings in gaming history. The only other moment in a game I've experienced which was similar was at the end of Assassin's Creed 2 when Juno (or whoever) turns and looks at the camera, and says 'I'm really talking to you, you're the important one here'. The ending of the Bureau was like that, stretched into an entire game's climax.

Add me, both you fools! (I need to remember you're franc0pirate, Eleven.) Let's organise some play time! I'll be Bloodborne'ing tonight, somewhere between 6pm and 11pm GMT. (Possibly/probably all of that time.) Could easily do a Heist or two with y'all. I only have one consistent online friend for this, so that's perf. We'll have a 4 player group for the more complex heists. Next week isn't too good for me as my gf's working hours will finally synch with mine in the evening. I may get on for an 60 or 90 minutes after 9pm GMT next week.