@KratosMD Yikes, sorry to hear LEGO Marvel's Avengers was such a bad first experience. I seem to recall that being one of the intermediary releases as well, and it wasn't particularly well-received as a result. Unfortunately, LEGO games tread a fine line with their humour sometimes, so I guess they just missed the mark that time around. Glad you had a much better time with the other two!
Oh, and they're called "studs" and yeah, the potential for innuendo is endless ("I spent the evening hunting for studs" and "I just unlocked a stud magnet" and so on).
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@KratosMD Well, be cautious. You're right in saying that LEGO games can live or die based on the player's adoration of a particular franchise, but LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens tests that theory to the limits. Just in case you weren't aware, I'm a massive Star Wars fan but even for me, that game was tough to platinum, as it's based purely on a single film and therefore stretches the available material to breaking point (regardless of whether you like Star Wars or not, it's kinda obvious and therefore can feel hollow and laborious in many places).
My advice? Wait for a couple months. There's a new game, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, coming out early next year which not only covers all nine Star Wars films, but also promises to overhaul the traditional LEGO gameplay and provide something new and fresh. We haven't been shown or told much beyond that, but the initial buzz is good.
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is a great game, and perhaps solely responsible for the longevity of the LEGO franchise, as it was the first to introduce an original story with fully-voiced characters. Glad you're enjoying it, and use it as a measuring stick for your tolerance, as everything that follows is just that, but more.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@KratosMD No worries; yeah, whilst I love that you've discovered LEGO games, there is a genuine danger of very, very rapid burnout (perhaps moreso than any other series). Enjoy the ones you have for now, as I reckon you might be more than ready for a break long before you've seen them all through.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Batman: Return to Arkham City - I think I'm nearing the end of it, I just finished a fight with the Joker on my second trip to the steel mill, and have started a Catwoman segment where I have to steal a plant for Poison Ivy. It's been a pretty solid time, and while it doesn't quite have the same atmosphere as Asylum, I do like the added freedom & more varied gadget selection. There's way too many Riddler trophies/challenges though. Sure, some of the puzzles can be pretty clever, but it's clearly bloat for the sake of bloat (on the other hand I really like the lore & concept art they unlock, though).
Luigi's Mansion 3 - First one of these I've played, and I'm pretty impressed. It has great atmosphere, and the Metroid like map design is a perfect fit. The environment is highly detailed & interactive, and the bosses are looking like they might be something special (I just beat a pianist ghost that was suprisingly involved). Only issue is that my right Joy Con has developed drift pretty heavily, and it's making things way harder than they should be (Luigi is constantly trying to spin, making lining things up difficult, and it slows him down when trying to move away from danger, lol).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Hey everyone. If you haven't had a look yet, please go and vote in the Push Square community run screenshot of the year competition, there are a few hours left for the public vote and you can find all of the pictures and information in the forum post 😁
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
Really glad the Switch port turned out so well from a technical perspective, and that it appropriately feels like a step up. When a LEGO game is good, it's really good and so, regardless of its art style, I'd consider LEGO DC Super Villains to be one of my favourite bat-games, period.
I wonder what your custom character looks like? I was boring and just kinda made a LEGO version of me, in a t-shirt and jeans. The customisation options are nigh-on endless!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I'm nowhere near done with Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition
... In fact I've still not made it past chapter 2. (The hour long opening is chapter 1). I've only not long just made it out Fort Joy and yet spent over 10 hours in game (And closer to 16 or so thanks to reloading it and faffing about). But I just had to write down my overwhelmingly positive reception to this so far.
Plus I think the original thread for the game has been inactive for far too long... so... Impressions piece it is!
Whilst I have enjoyed my other gaming fare of Soul Calibur VI and Bloodstained lately (and I'll be playing them alongside this, especially over the winter break) I think they've been more of a pleasant distraction for things that have happened on my end lately.
This however really has engrossed me. I spent 8 hours alone on Saturday playing this (well between reloading and doing the odd thing round the house it was only like 3 hours progress). Something I haven't done in a long time and all sense of time was void as I just kept playing.
There's our six potential heroes (and in my opinion quite nice cover art and splash screen of the game) of: The lizard known as The Red Prince. The Dwarf pirate known only as Beast. The elven assassin known as Sebille. The human female bard that is Lohse, the undead known as Fane and the human mercenary Ifan Ben-Mezd.
You can play as any one of them... making them any one of the 14 starting classes and choosing their starting skills, stats, abilities, perks and traits (Yeah this is a pretty complex title)
You can however make your own character too out of the four main races of Human, Lizard, Elf & Dwaff or an undead version of the four races.
I ended up making a lizard. A female Cleric which comes with points in the Necromancy spell tree and the Hydrosophist Spell tree.
You start off elder scrolls style in a prison.
Well on a ship that's heading to the prison known as fort joy.
You're a sourcerer. Having an inate and rather special magical affinity. Unfortunately as of late source magic has been attracting mysterious beings known as "Voidwoken" and the clergy has decided to round up all the sourcerers to cure them to stop the voidwoken from attacking.
Yup... That's all the map I've seen so far! The second area of the game!
One of the first (and despite being such a small thing is actually pretty big thing) I noticed about the game... Is that my choice in race has actually been more then just a cosmetic thing so far.
Take something like Skyrim or Dragon Age. Aside from the occasional line of dialogue or a special ability there's not much of a difference between being an Khajit or an elf aside from cosmetics and maybe a skill or two in the former.
In Divinity it's come up a lot. Sebille took quite a bit of convincing to join my party for example because of her backstory and my character being a lizard. All Lizard characters call my character kin and there's usually a special dialogue choice for her in most conversations that brings up the aristocratic ways of the lizard race.
In fact I stole a healing potion early on and an elf then questioned me, asking to turn over my bag for her to look through it for the missing item.
Essentially I accused her of prejudice, asking if it was because I was a lizard she was questioning me (Lizards are notorious slavers as well apparently and I think she was a former slave) and with my stats giving a helping boost (there are stat based persuasion checks too) I got out of it! Stolen potion still in pocket!
Hell I've had kids affctionately call me a dragon and guards and thugs call me a reptile in disdain. It's a real small thing... and yet not many other games seem to get that right at all!
Plus since I mentioned Skyrim ya know what it's got that it hasn't?
An actual voice cast
Far as I can tell almost every character so far has a unique voice! (The kids maybe not) And yet we still live in an age where Skyrim (Or Oblivion's comically inept attempt) has it's laughable voice cast where there's only ten different voices in the world apparently aside from the real big npc's. (Though the idle chatter from npc's can get a bit much in Fort Joy)
Plus as I'm exploring/making my island escape now I'm getting a number of chances to talk with the party after events. It does feel like my party is actually a party of individuals with very different goals in mind at the moment and not just a bunch of yes men who'll do whatever I tell them. Especially Sebille.
I had one objective soon as I made it to Fort Joy, Unsurprisingly it was to get out. And through my time playing i found six very different ways.
I could go at it completely alone with no assistance and some sneakiness and dodge past everything.
I could sail out thanks to a resistance group.
I could just fight my way out.
Escape via sewer duct.
Escaping with a fellow Sourcerer by ourselves.
Or be shown/told a secret way out by two different parties...
... I'm being pretty vague here obviously to not spoil anything but there's been a variety of choices with a bunch of different lead ins and outs.
Quests naturally feeding in to one and another with a number of questlines already hinted at that'll pop in later on.
And I don't have the talk to animals perk either! (That I thought was more of a joke choice but it actually seems like it could be quite handy for extra info and quests)
The party's assembled
The combat's a pretty complex beast too.
Playing on what's considered the normal/medium difficulty setting, going through the many different escape routes I kept finding fights. Fights with characters a level or two higher.
I ended up reloading a few times to say the least as they made me into strawberry jam! 😂
But before I finally left I got my head round it and the wealth of options on display. And there's a LOT you can do!
From simply teleporting a melee enemy away from you to give youself some breathing room to using an attack on an oil barrel with one character and breaking it open, oil spilling everywhere only for another to set it alight and create a wall of fire.
Or maybe my characters are on fire and I use my rain spell to douse them off before using a lightning spell later on in the fight to shock the puddle when we're out the way to damage a bunch of enemies.
Or you can just turn someone into a chicken if you like!
Of course the enemies are no slouch either. Fane (the undead of my party) is a constant target for enemy healing spells... which severely hurt him thanks to his undead-ness and has to heal via poison!
Plus with both physical and magical armour to deal with before you can usually get to an enemy's actual health bar (same goes for you of course) you do have to think of what your best move might be.
The game rewards and expects some clever thinking on your part!
Four totally inconspicuous bushes and not four escapees trying to enter a fight with tactical advantage
It can be a bit of an intimidating beast at first... But Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition does have numerous difficulty options, including a story mode if you want to ease yourself in... Or a permadeath mode if you're feeling particularly masochistic.
You don't have to brave the game alone either even.
There's the option for four player online co-op! If you're feeling particularly old school you and a (single) buddy can play the game co-op right on the sofa! Or you can let off some steam in the multiplayer arena mode too with up to four people both offline and online!
Now I may be at work at the moment... But the kids are watching Finding Dory so I meanwhile am wondering just how I should build my party... what new skills I should get... and what those seemingly immortal, but eternally on fire, pigs want in the middle of a swamp...
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That’s a fantastic summary of your first impressions! A very informative post that highlights the games basic structure. It has me wanting to play it!
It does sound like an extremely complex game though, which is intimidating. That, and it’s length have been the deterrents for me so far. I picked it up a few months ago when I saw it for cheap but am waiting for the right time. Meanwhile more games slowly bleed into my backlog whilst my life becomes more complicated and time seems at a premium lately, but I digress...
So suffice it to say, this is a good “scratch that D&D itch” game then? Are the systems too complex as to make it unapproachable for the casual fan of the genre? How much time is spent messing about in the menus versus in the game world? And does the menu and interface navigation feel intuitive to you, given the transition of this being a PC game first?
I have to say, the way you describe the multitude of options for customization of character interaction, combat, dialogue, and problem solving - well, I’m impressed with the depth of what they’ve accomplished here.
I look forward to reading more of your impressions. It sounds like a very exciting experience! If the rumors of the game’s runtime are true, then you’re a mere 10% complete, so I’m curious how the gameplay holds up over such an epic length.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
So suffice it to say, this is a good “scratch that D&D itch” game then?
Very much so. There is a narrator who describes how characters react to your inquiries/discussions and the likes that the character models can't really show due to the limitations of the perspective/engine that gives it the feel like you're at the mercy of a Dungeon Master.
Are the systems too complex as to make it unapproachable for the casual fan of the genre?
I haven't played anything like it. No Baldur's gate (Which it's oft compared to) or the likes for me. The closest I can honestly compare it to for me is Dragon Age Origins.
This is definitely much more complex then that.
There is a story difficulty setting/mode that should reduce the difficulty to be much more manageable for the casual fan, with there being lots of tutorial message pop ups and the likes to ease you in as well.
How much time is spent messing about in the menus versus in the game world?
Now that I've escaped Fort Joy I spent a good 30 or so minutes changing round the 5 hot bars for each character to make it more accomdating/what I'll be using and shuffle inventories round a bit.
But I haven't spent too much time in the inventory menu or the likes otherwise. Spent plenty of times oohing and ahhhing at the shop screen and trying to figure out what I should get though!
And does the menu and interface navigation feel intuitive to you, given the transition of this being a PC game first?
I'd say it feels pretty decent though I sometimes mix the shoulder button functions up.
I'm not quite sure if it's because I've bounced around from Witcher III, to SCVI & Bloodstained to this though. That's four very different control schemes I've gone through!
If the rumors of the game’s runtime are true, then you’re a mere 10% complete, so I’m curious how the gameplay holds up over such an epic length
I'm probably only 5% in because of me just faffing about as I searched nooks and crannys and explored the fort thoroughly to get all that sweet sweet exp and loot.
I've heard you can take only 30-40 hours if you focus purely on the main story... Shouldn't be impossible to do, especially if you go with Story mode to make the encounters easier
I have the first chapter/hour up on my youtube channel (cut into ten minute chunks with no commentary, the first part being the character backstories and opening intro) if you want to take a gander that'll probably help explain a little more then I probably can
It's also slightly ironic as you're the one who told me about it, and yet i'm playing it first 5 months or so later 😂
Yeah, I thought the same. I’m glad that it looks like it’s going to be a good one then. I could only point it out as a game that seemed to fit what you were looking for based on what I’d read rather than personal experience. Good thing I didn’t lead you astray. 😄
Obviously I’ve been keeping an eye on the game for a while now, and there hasn’t been a whole lot of chatter about it around here so it’s good to have some first hand experience rolling in. For such a seemingly exceptional game, I think it’s been largely overlooked by the PS4 user base.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I'll keep you updated and tag you in any future Divinity post I make if you like @Th3solution? I'm very aware I'm in the opening hours and the honeymoon phase but I do hope it makes a similar effort for the rest of our time together
(And so far the plot threads dangled before me seem to suggest it will)
For such a seemingly exceptional game, I think it’s been largely overlooked by the PS4 user base
Well Larian studios who made it is a pretty small company apparently and Bandai-Namco published it on console which might explain the small if near no fanfare.
It sold a million copies on pc though
Plus if we're going just by Push Square it seems @kyleforrester87 is really the only one who's actually played it from the now dead Divinity II thread 😂
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Falls apart in Chapter 2 in my opinion. Chapter 1 was very good, though. OS1 is better overall
Edit: I can’t remember exactly if Fort Joy is chapter 1 etc actually, but I mean everything I played after the Fort Joy map. I think you leave The Joy at the end of chapter 1..
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Just gotta say, I love how you've basically gone "Nope, can't wait to talk about this!" and written a review for the opening of your current game. Your excitement and enthusiasm is both palpable and infectious, as I've just been reflecting on how Dragon Age challenged my "I hate fantasy" sentiment this year and so found myself thinking "Wow, maybe I should keep this game in mind!" whilst reading your thoughts. Thanks for sharing them!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Nice write-up! I'm guilty of leaning way too heavily on the "reviews" side of the "User Impressions/Reviews Thread," so it's nice to see someone just gab about a game they're enjoying.
It sounds a bit complex, which is why I don't play CRPGs more often, but when you can really burrow yourself deep inside of a massive, engrossing RPG world, it's a very good time. You can lose hours at the drop of a hat (which, in my case, means looking away from the computer screen to find that my eyes feel like they're burning and it's 4 in the morning, which means I stay awake the rest of the night to ensure I get to work on time )
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