Topic: Games you've recently beat

@Th3solution Far Cry 3 is when the series established its identity that it's known for today. It's also considered the best game in the series, so if you're interested in experiencing the series at least once, then start with that game. Then you could always play the expansion Blood Dragon, which is considered to be the best DLC in the franchise since it's so over the top and it references a lot of 80s media.

I've actually been in a mood to play some Far Cry lately so I might finally start up Far Cry 4, which is the next game on my list from this series.

@Keith_Zissou the fishing and arcade (multiplayer) was actually quite a fun wrap up iirc.

@Th3solution I actually do think Farcry 5 would be a decent introduction to the series. The previous entries were fine but 5 had a lot more vehicle variety (particularly in terms of aircraft), a cool buddy system that I really enjoyed and just a lot more anarchy.

Just finished Spyro the Dragon via the Reignited Trilogy. This was one of the first games I played on my PS1 as a kid, so it was great revisiting it like this. Went with the Steam version since it runs at 60+ fps on my PC.

@Keith_Zissou yeah, that’s the feeling I had during the end game ‘collecting’ the various wildlife ‘scalps’. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate the depth and patience of a wildlife system of something like Red Dead 2… but I ‘enjoyed’ the hunting far more in Farcry 5.

@Keith_Zissou well they’re great games… I loved the original back on PS3 but I couldn’t get into the sequel (though I plan on giving it another go some day). The reason I brought it up was that the hunting mechanics in RDR 2 were just such a stark contrast to those in Farcry 5. I remember having to be very patient in an attempt to locate the ‘legendary’ animals… and patience is sadly something I struggle with 😅

@Keith_Zissou @colonelkilgore Red Dead Redemption is fantastic. And RDR2 is actually objectively a better game overall, although I actually like the first one more as a whole. Both are really good narratively speaking. The gameplay isn’t always best-in-class, but the world building is phenomenal and the level of detail and care taken to the second game’s world mechanics is still probably not yet been matched.

@Th3solution it will be a long long time before anything gets even close to RDR2 when it comes to creating a proper living and breathing open world. It's Rockstar's magnum opus in my humble opinion.

@Gunnerzaurus I'm one relic away from the final boss fight and it's been a very tough but enjoyable game. After finishing a second playthrough of The Last of Us Part II I fancied something more light and relaxing and thought Kena would be it. In many ways it is but when it comes to boss battles it's pretty ***** far from relaxing lol

@Keith_Zissou Red Dead Redemption 2 is such an anomaly. Being a massive fan of the original… as well as a big Rockstar fan (at the time at least) I was really looking forward to its release. I booked two weeks off work and was really excited about losing myself in the Wild West once more… and it just really didn’t click with me. I pushed myself through two or three 10 hour sessions of it and after literally falling asleep at the reins (during one of the many horseback journeys) I gave up the ghost and played something else.

I say it’s an anomaly because… regardless of the boredom I felt, it never meant that I ever considered the game was anything less than a masterpiece. The world, characters, atmosphere, writing, the narrative (what I saw of it during my brief dalliance anyway) are all top notch… it just felt… very meandering. I definitely plan on giving it another crack at some point… and actually, maybe I’ll start it around the same time that you eventually do as I know that there is a pretty hefty online requirement. I think I just need to be in a place where I’m in no real rush, where I’m in a ‘sit back and smell the roses’ gaming mood.

@Keith_Zissou @colonelkilgore I’ll be completely honest, if you were to go back and read in the RDR2 thread you’ll find that I posted a lot of entries that talked about my frustration with the game. I completely see where you’re coming from, colonel. It’s a very difficult game to judge while you’re in the middle of playing, and the greatness of it is more appreciated after you’re done. You said it well, there is no doubting the exceptional quality and care put into the game and it’s boggles the mind that it’s running on PS4 with how intricate the game design is.

My favorite example of this, which I’ve mentioned a couple times on the forums in the past so I apologize for repeating, is when I was riding my horse through one of the towns and accidentally ran over a sheep or a goat (I forget what kind of livestock it was) in a completely unscripted trivial moment, something that happens all the time in these kinds of games, and left the dead animal in my dust and went about my business in town. I happened to return to that same town a few in-game days later while riding through for one reason or another and saw the animal carcass still in the same spot and showing signs of decomposition! Amazed that the game not only “remembered” that I’d left a dead animal there, but that it also took the care to show real time decay of its body, I returned every couple days and the body continued to decompose further and further along until there was a skeleton left there of the animal, in the exact spot it was accidentally killed. Most games don’t even have the animal die if you run over it and if so the body disappears, often immediately.

To show this attention to detail would have been impressive in a small linear game, but in an open world game with so many variables going on, it’s quite a feat. Not to mention the RDR2 world is enormous and a living, breathing world in every other aspect as well. Then if you take into account the game is simultaneously telling a gripping and impactful story with excellent voice acting and graphical fidelity, well - it’s just amazing to behold.

All that aside, “meandering” is a good way to describe it. You’re correct that you have to go into it with a specific mindset of “moseying” through it like a cowboy and just soaking it all up. Trying to rush through will make it less enjoyable. My main gripes when I was playing it were exactly that — that it seemed to drag on and on. You really have to just embrace that part of it and I do think it’s intentional on Rockstar’s part. It’s not bloated, per se, it’s just voluminous in its content. It’s easy to get distracted by someone yelling for help while you ride to your next objective, that kind of stuff.

Colonel, In some ways being the “Gameplay King” it doesn’t surprise me that you struggled getting through the game. That opening area in the snow is a really hard part to push through, and it take several hours to really get going. The game is really the anti-Souls game. Where those games focus on moment to moment combat and big battles with a minimalist and cryptic story which stays mostly out of the way, RDR2 is at its best with the epic story, exploration, and life sim while the gunplay and combat is mostly just the side piece.

RDR is much more focused like a traditional open world action-adventure game, and easier to wrap your arms around without getting distracted by trying different beards and haircuts at the barber, fishing and hunting, looking for dinosaur bones, etc. like RDR2. I liked the story of RDR a tiny bit more, but the ending of RDR2 is properly epic and stirring in it’s own right and something I still ponder.

@Th3solution that’s a great post mate… I appreciate it, as it does stir some interest in RDR2 that has long lied dormant. The decaying animal carcass is indeed impressive… and I’m sure that there are any number of little ‘seemingly’ insignificant systems like that working behind the scenes. A world that rich, particularly a world depicting the old west (I absolutely loved westerns) is something that I need to embrace… for my own sake.

I’ve challenged myself to get to 100 plats by the end of this year, it’s a tough assignment if I’m honest 😅… and one which a RDR2 playthrough would only hinder. Next year though, if I’m in the right headspace for some moseying… I’ll dive in.

@colonelkilgore I appreciate you reading my ramblings. 😄
Discussing the game reminds me of Witcher 3. So-so gameplay, but spectacular world and story. But even then, Geralt’s hair doesn’t grow, you can’t lose his hat and change clothes, people’s reaction to you in town doesn’t change based on your behavior, etc, etc. But it’s a similar game in the sense it’s so sprawling, enormous, and narrative heavy that it’s tough to stay with without setting aside a huge section on your calendar. Incidentally, W3 is my personal version of this — a game I started, kinda liked, but just had a mental block and couldn’t get through it after a handful of hours. It lies dormant in my backlog too.

@Th3solution I probably put around 60 hours into The Witcher 3 and it really messed with my ocd. The way that I used to play games (prior to being a plat hunter) was to clear everything possible before moving on. So I was on what I assume was the ‘main’ area… but had a mission where I was to set sail to another area named Skellige. So I thought… okay, well I’ll just mop up the question marks here and then I’ll set sail. Skip to three weeks later and I’m sure that there was more question marks there than there was when I was first asked to travel to Skellige. I’m pretty sure it was like Marvel’s Hydra ie ‘cut off one head (or in this case ?) and two more shall take its place’. In the end I just gave up and started something else. Funnily enough, much like RDR2 I plan on returning to it… some day 😅.

@colonelkilgore My experience, exactly! Looks like you made it further than I did, but I had to same issue. Trying to mop up the question marks in W3 was (and I like the Hydra reference so I’ll stay with Greek mythology) a Sisyphean task indeed.

With RDR2, there aren’t quite as many icons on the map to clean up, rather the world has interactive events which occur and distract in a more organic way. It still gets you off your goals for a while, but if feels more engaging, natural, and enjoyable to have it occur this way, rather than chasing icons ad infinitum.

We both may get a proper motivation to return to W3 when the PS5 version come out. That might motivate me.

@Th3solution Ha Sisyphean indeed! Perfect analogy 🤣

Yeah I reckon the PS5 version will pretty much all it takes for me to return to the world of The Witcher 3… hell the Netflix show has had me on the precipice.

… and my arch-nemesis finally reveals his self… en garde! 😠

I beat Life Is Strange True Colo(u)rs last night and I loved it. A really special return to form. It's an absolute treat.

I also finally beat Tales of Arise, which is less of a treat but still a treat.

I finished a few games off at the weekend. ME1, great game and really good to finally get around to playing one game out of the trilogy. The other game that me and the kids had been playing through was The Last Campfire. We started this an age ago but got around to playing the last part and woah what an emotional ending that was.

Finished up Spider-Man: Miles Morales which was pretty brilliant. Improves on the first one in so many ways that I’d honestly rather have a sequel to that game despite there clearly being lots of material for Spider-Man 2. They managed to really ground Miles in his community, which was a great accomplishment especially compared to the first game, where Peter protects the neighbourhood but seems quite detached from the people who live there. Harlem in Miles Morales is one of the best representations of a living and vibrant place I’ve seen in a while, even just the extra street art adds to it. Now to chase the platinum!

@nessisonett it's a cracking game!! They did a fantastic job of grounding him and his roots in the community. The venom powers added an extra layer depth to the combat and the open world had just the right amount of activities. I have no background in spiderman other than a few of the movies but I would prefer to see more of Miles's story in spiderman 2.