The Gaming Thread
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Where on earth did you get Mass Effect for $2?
I looked it up on Steam, and it would cost me $39.95, plus a $9.95/month subscription. Here: Mass Effect (2007) on SteamAs usual when it comes to game prices, us Aussies get screwed. Sigh.
I've been playing The Bard's Tale 3 when I have the time. It's very chill and makes me think it was olden days. This reminds me of that Christopher Reeve movie where he time travels through sheer force of will. He dresses up like he's in a chautauqua, chants to himself that he's in another time, travels back in time and falls in love. Then he sees a penny from 1970 (wherever he came from) and it breaks his trance and he un-timetravels. I'm not making this up, haha. This is a Richard Matheson story, I believe.
I was reading some review online and the guy playing BT3 swore it was impossible and had a list of grievances against it, mainly regarding spellpoints. I don't think he knew what he was doing. This is the easiest Bard's Tale with regard to spellpoints. It's absurdly forgiving. In the old ones, you had to return to town to recharge. You'd be slaughtered on the way back. There were some mild workarounds to recharge in the dungeon, but they wouldn't carry you through.
I really thought Part 1 was the hardest. They didn't have an automap back then. (Part 3 introduces this.) You had to map everything by hand on graph paper, a 22x22 grid, and the game is designed to make that much harder than it should be. I finished Part 2 last year, I think. I managed to do it without cheating, though I'm playing the modern remake and it does put an automap in Part 2, which shouldn't have one.
Anyhow, I haven't cheated on part 3 yet. I'm doing okay. Cheating here is mainly about looking up the answers to riddles to get by Magic Mouths.
I was reading some review online and the guy playing BT3 swore it was impossible and had a list of grievances against it, mainly regarding spellpoints. I don't think he knew what he was doing. This is the easiest Bard's Tale with regard to spellpoints. It's absurdly forgiving. In the old ones, you had to return to town to recharge. You'd be slaughtered on the way back. There were some mild workarounds to recharge in the dungeon, but they wouldn't carry you through.
I really thought Part 1 was the hardest. They didn't have an automap back then. (Part 3 introduces this.) You had to map everything by hand on graph paper, a 22x22 grid, and the game is designed to make that much harder than it should be. I finished Part 2 last year, I think. I managed to do it without cheating, though I'm playing the modern remake and it does put an automap in Part 2, which shouldn't have one.
Anyhow, I haven't cheated on part 3 yet. I'm doing okay. Cheating here is mainly about looking up the answers to riddles to get by Magic Mouths.
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Where on earth did you get Mass Effect for $2?
As usual when it comes to game prices, us Aussies get screwed. Sigh.
He bought the Legendary Edition for $6 (all three games) when it was on sale. It's full price right now. The link you posted is just to the Steam release of the first game.
You don't need a subscription to play Mass Effect. That's an optional subscription to EA Play. It lets you play the game (and others) in lieu of buying it. Think Netflix.
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Ah, OK. (Whoops). Thank you, Stuart.
In my defense, it's 12:45 am here and I'm beat. 'Night ...!
Spun up Mass Effect 2 this afternoon, played for about 4 hours. What an intro, good gravy! Quite the way to start a game following the events of the first one. Damn.
So far I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I thought the graphics would be a big jump from the first game, but no, it's roughly the same. With the remaster I tend to forget that these are OLD games. Ancient. ME1 came out in 2007, and ME2 was released in 2010. They've done a pretty good job with the upgrades and I don't need to see the originals to know it.
There are some significant gameplay changes that I feel are a step back, but maybe that will change as I go along. The unlocking/hacking process is more complicated, but it doesn't waste that much time over the previous system. The planetary survey process with probes and everything so far is fun, but it very well could become a bit of a chore later on.
I'm not a fan of the ammo system, but it's not all that jarring since that's been the standard in basically every FPS I've ever played. It was just nice to not have to worry about that stuff in ME1. Was a breath of fresh air. The weapons system is also a bit odd. I can't see weapon stats, and I don't have any option to switch weapons outside of when I start a new mission. Armour? No idea what's going on with that yet. Guess we'll see how it goes next weekend.
So, in a nutshell, I miss some of the ME1 mechanics, but I'm still all-in for the sequel and am looking forward to more.
So far I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I thought the graphics would be a big jump from the first game, but no, it's roughly the same. With the remaster I tend to forget that these are OLD games. Ancient. ME1 came out in 2007, and ME2 was released in 2010. They've done a pretty good job with the upgrades and I don't need to see the originals to know it.
There are some significant gameplay changes that I feel are a step back, but maybe that will change as I go along. The unlocking/hacking process is more complicated, but it doesn't waste that much time over the previous system. The planetary survey process with probes and everything so far is fun, but it very well could become a bit of a chore later on.
I'm not a fan of the ammo system, but it's not all that jarring since that's been the standard in basically every FPS I've ever played. It was just nice to not have to worry about that stuff in ME1. Was a breath of fresh air. The weapons system is also a bit odd. I can't see weapon stats, and I don't have any option to switch weapons outside of when I start a new mission. Armour? No idea what's going on with that yet. Guess we'll see how it goes next weekend.
So, in a nutshell, I miss some of the ME1 mechanics, but I'm still all-in for the sequel and am looking forward to more.
Hell yeah. High five for playing through all three. I don't think many people make it through that god damn swamp getting those god damn gems. I made Ms. Stuart play the first two as well before starting the third. It adds a lot of context, and I think the first one had better writing than the second.
What mainly comes to mind that people miss out on by skipping the first game are:
Plot twist as to villain's identity.
Who then delivers his own—amazing—death one-liner:
"That sword . . . is for monsters!"
Who then delivers his own—amazing—death one-liner:
"That sword . . . is for monsters!"
Introduction to King Foltest.
Regarding Vizima, where a skirmish has erupted: "Witcher, imagine returning home from an excursion against a monster, a kikimore for instance, only to discover your home . . . a whorehouse."
Regarding Vizima, where a skirmish has erupted: "Witcher, imagine returning home from an excursion against a monster, a kikimore for instance, only to discover your home . . . a whorehouse."
And lastly, Thaler being Thaler.
Maybe sometime in the future you'll check out the books again, who knows.
Both are good games but I prefer the first one. I think the first one is the most 'sci fi' if that makes sense.
