Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@Ravix hehehe, that was a pretty hard sell, my friend The main reason I've avoided it is that a historical accurate medieval sim doesn't really appeal to me all that much (I prefer bright and rosy fantasy elements with my medieval settings; the real thing was, by all accounts, dirty and troublesome) and the secondary reason I've avoided it is that I keep mixing it up with that online game where you fight as either vikings, samurai or medieval knights in a huge MMO brawl.

But, silly secondary reason aside, your excellent sales pitch has weakened my main reason and I will put it on my backlog the next time it gets a deep discount.

@FuriousMachine ah, well, Bohemia is a lot less dirty, swampy and muddy than say, Velen, for example, but maybe just as troublesome with the bandits. There's a good split between peasant and noble interaction, too. So you aren't just grubbing it up with common folk 24/7.

I'm genuienly intrigued if you've accidentally missed out on something you'd really quite enjoy, so it will be interesting to hear when you play it.

Henry and Co. are actually framed as pretty relatable lads and lasses too, which is probably why it doesn't feel like something that is ever stuck in the past, despite it having very old fashioned themes and traditions in religion and noble houses. It also does a good job of showing how little difference there is between noble families and common bands of thugs when money and land is removed from the situation. This year's nobleman is always potentially next years bandit.

But I shall say no more 😁

@Herculean what part of southern England, any ideas? What brings you here, and where from?

@Herculean Wales

@Herculean Scotland

@Herculean it depends if you consider cities or the countryside - old architecture or modern architecture "nicest, most beautiful or whatever" tbh 😛

I feel if you mention a few things here that you usually consider worthy of your time away people will be able to suggest things better. Places you've been to before that you've most enjoyed etc.

You could always tour the local Greg's and Wetherspoons if you want to see a slice of modern English culture. Visit many of our empty highstreets. Check out some roadworks that only seem to lead to further roadworks in future. Boris Johnson handbuilt 50 hospitals, a modern marvel of engineering. Then cap it all off by sailing down dead rivers, and taking in the sights of yet more crumbling buildings built of inadequate concrete, and probably lagged with very flammable materials 🫡

Now starts my three weeks of vacation. Really been looking forward to this as I just want to relax and play some video games. Never got a chance to fully relax during my summer vacation since I moved and did a lot of stuff with that. Can't wait to just lie in bed and play games on my Portal.

@Ravix So, it was heavily discounted in the current PS Store sale and I bought it for less than £10, which was a good deal. Decided to try it for a spin before I started my "Shadowrun Returns" session. I played for a little under an hour and... well, let's just say it wasn't love at first sight. It felt very clunky and slow to me. The animation for picking up an apple took around twenty minutes to complete, it felt like, and it seemed like he picked it up with the back of his hand (I suppose he had some sort of adhesive on there). I also got in a fistfight with a drunkard and that felt completely off. I can only hope that fight wasn't representative of the combat in the game, that combat gets better as the character gets skilled in the various disciplines.
I liked the character interactions, though. While the voice acting was less than stellar, the actual dialogue felt quite real. I will come back to it later and give at fair shake, but my first impressions didn't exactly propel it up to the top of my backlog.
I should add that I know that all the negatives I mentioned are easily overcome if the game manages to pull me in, so I'm not in any way discounting it yet.

@FuriousMachine oh, it's a game with flaws, but a game that makes up for those with its endless charm and sheer willingness to not be as hand-holdy as other games. You have to remember it was a game made by an independent Czech studio funded by a kick-starter, and the passion project of the lead writer for Mafia 1 and 2. I always think a game made with passion will reveal itself to the player soon enough, and can easily be forgiven for any jank.

It's one you've definitely got to fall in love with and find out for yourself, though.

Just the other day I was on an old save just incase I'd missed any good side quests the first time round, and I started one that in essence seemed like the goal would be to maybe get some rabbit skins for the huntsman (I thought, well that's why i'd missed it). Needless to say, it was not, it was a full on detective task to find out about a murder and find out what really went on a few years ago as the perp who had escaped could potentially be back in town with cruel intentions for those that initially caught him. There were no real quest markers as to who anyone involved might be, and it was linked to a seperate quest involving a gang of poachers and it potentially involved witchcraft and rituals in the nearby forest too. And by the end, we found out what went on, and afterwards Henry was given a new task by the local lord, too, and a new place to call home for his efforts.

I was basically like: oh yeah, that's why I love this sh** 😂

@PorkChopExpress It all sounds pretty great; here's hoping it manages to pull me in before it pushes me away when I sit down with it for real

@PorkChopExpress Definitely true, but I'll still give it a fair chance at some point. There are, however, quite a few games ahead of it on my backlog, God of War: Ragnarok among them

@PorkChopExpress @FuriousMachine

Yes, yes. The preach is real. There's one thing the industry needs right now more than anything: Studios that make the games that they actually want to f***ing make! And it's on us to support them for it ✊️

The reason I think Furious may be won round is because The Witcher is quite similar in how it works for new players, it's a bit/a lot of a pain at first, and at times, and I know a lot of people, including me, gave that up and came back to it for various reasons I.e there being no other games truly worthy of following RDR2.

RDR was always a passion project, and no one was interested in or capable of making large scale, slow paced western games.

The Witcher was a passion project by a Polish dev with pride in the Polish source material.

BG3 was a passion project by the most loveliest of dev teams capable of making people near allergic reactions to turn based games fall in love with their take on DnD

KCD is a passion project by a small Czech team with pride in telling a part of their history with a weirdly relatable cast of characters and a ridiculously heavy focus on the details and pushing as close to AAA as they could possibly push with their small team.

All of those games I'd forgive a hundred bugs and annoyances because the rest will always make up for it.

When a game can make you say "God, this bit is annoying... I can't wait to play more" that's peak gaming 😂

@Herculean A few places off the top of my head that would be worth considering based on what you've said;

• Bristol is really near to Bath and well worth a visit if you're in that area. I lived there for a year and it's such an amazing city with great culture but some beautiful sites too. Clifton and the suspension bridge is a particularly nice area.
• For walking, if you're around Somerset then there's always the famous Glastonbury Tor to visit.
• Lyme Regis is a beautiful town on the coast and part of the famous Jurassic Coast. If you're more over Salisbury way then Poole is a great option with the harbour and the famous Sandbanks beach not far away.

I live in Devon which is a beautiful part of the world and there is also good reason that Cornwall is such a popular place for tourists from Britain and abroad but getting a bit further away from where you mentioned.

How are you planning to get about? The trains here are okay but pretty overpriced and not always especially easy to get between places that look like they should be better connected..

@Herculean The trains can prove unreliable, so just be wary of that. The last time I was in Bath, the last train back home got cancelled so had to get a taxi which was about 70 quid. I have heard similar stories from a bunch of other people too.

@Thrillho How are you? Been a while. Still watching Test Match Cricket? What games (if any) are you playing over the hols?

I've been engaging with the community in these forums for a little under two years now and in that time I feel I've made a couple of friends and mostly encountered friendly people all around,

So, I wanted to drop a little message wishing everyone who celebrates Christmas a very merry Christmas, those who celebrate other holidays these days a lovely celebration and each and everyone, whether you celebrate holidays or not, a joyous and peaceful time for both you and the people you love.

Take care, people and here's to many more fun, interesting and edifying interactions in the future! Cheers!

@FuriousMachine Hear, hear! 🥂 Happy Holidays to one and all on Push Square!

From time to time the forums have been quieter this year and we’ve seen some regulars wander away or be less active, but there’s been some new blood come around and still a fine group of folks to virtually hang out with here. All the best to my gaming compadres!

@Herculean Lol, it’s amazing that I’m past my 7 year mark on the site. It’s been one of the few consistencies in my life! 😂 I used to be more active and this past year has definitely been one of my quieter years on the site, but I still check the forums and articles every day or two, usually. Sometimes a week or more will go by without posting anything but most of the time I’ve at least scanned the site content.

@Th3solution Congratulations on passing your 7 year mark on the website. Some further thoughts on Sekiro: In addition to accessing Prosthetic tools for your Shinobi prosthetic arm, these can also be upgraded, and alongside unlockable skills/a weapon/weapons(?) , some of which, understandably, are only accessible as endgame content, I believe you can in fact create a relatively op version of Sekiro (titular character) by the time you reach the end boss. @Jimmer-jammer, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, as you've spent significantly more time with the game than me. (Just beat Chained Ogre - heading towards the first '"real" boss now).

Those asking for advice on farming for xp, in terms of accessing these skills ,purchased with xp, have been discouraged to do so on reddit , suggesting to the op in each case that you naturally acquire enough xp throughout your playthrough - but for people who die a lot - like me - that's not really possible. There are, however, online resources pointing to the best farming spots, suggesting it (farming) is still a viable, if discouraged, option. But given the way I have previously completed Miyazaki's Souls games, this is pretty much guaranteed to be the route I am gonna take. At least that's my plan rn.

N.B. , Jimmer, if I farm exclusively at the most lucrative farming spots, lucrative in terms of xp, do you reckon I could max out 2 skill trees by the endgame? Bearing in mind my ridiculous amount of hours farming for op builds in the Souls games (3 or 4 2nd softcap stats reached).

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN There isn't really farming in Sekiro, you are meant to learn the combat and the enemy moves. Earned XP by killing enemies is used to up your skill points. Skill points, before you manage to collect all the parts for the masks, can only be used to "buy" combat arts. Once you get the completed mask, you can exchange 5 skill points for upgrading your attack power by 1. And the way the game was designed, you won't be able to get access to the final part of the masks until at least the 3rd quarter of the game, or even late 3rd quarter. The last part cannot be bought by money. By not giving away too many spoilers, to reach this stage, you have to defeat bosses and mini-bosses to get to this stage. Oh, XP do not upgrade your health (vitality) at all. You need to collect gourd seeds. Some of them can be found in chests but the others, you have to defeat bosses and mini-bosses as reward.

Farming in Sekiro is really for three main purposes. One is to safeguard your XP before you are going to face a boss because if you die (twice), you will lose half of your existing XP in progress. And half of your existing money unless you have saved them by buying different size money bags. Secondly, you farm XP in order to get certain combat art(s) or all of them if you are going for the achievements. Lastly, you farm for certain items. This is mainly for upgrading your prosthetic tools.

I hope that helps! I did copy most of that from the steam community pages though lol.