Games you are currently playing - Part 7

[Turin]

At least early on the Metaphor controls feel weirdly tar-like even compared to Persona games, exploration slightly unpleasant if not tedious. Early on the story has also been painfully predictable. Maybe with time those aspects get better, but mixed feelings at first. On the fortunate side the main character is a bit less of an empty canvas, even if still bland.

It's good but after being hyped for it for over a year, it just didn't live up.

 

[Frankie Spankie]

I Am Your Beast is so much fun. I was going to wait until the next Steam sale to get it because my backlog is already so big but decided to get it anyway. I'm having an absolute blast. It's super fun to look for the optimal path and feel like John Wick while doing it all.

 

[Jovavic]

Started Persona 5 Royal to continue my little Atlusathon I'm doing (played 3 Reload and Metaphor the previous months). I'm going on vacation shortly and when I get back I'll get a month of Game Pass to play Indy which then that leads into Pirate Yakuza and the Suikoden remasters.

 

[HanSolo]

About halfway through Blood and Wine on my Witcher 3 Next Gen replay. First of all, I know I can play this game in high fidelity on my gaming laptop but this game just feels better as a console title with this kind of graphical improvement.

Man was Hearts of Stone such a ride. The mission with Iris Von Everec's backstory was beautiful and heartbreaking. Gaunter O'dimm is still a more compelling character than like 95% of the rest of the game's cast. Only downside is HoS is a lot lighter on content than Blood & Wine.

I feel like there's still plenty out there that feel like the Witcher 3's combat mechanics suck and the story content doesn't do it for them, but for me, as open world immersive games go the only games in the same tier for storytelling are RDR2 and Cyberpunk 2077.

Yeah the combat is clunky and can be a bit of a button masher where you can disregard most of the RPG elements like crafting and alchemy (save for the hardest difficulty) and yeah the "Witcher senses" investigating can be tedious but it's entirely in character for a Witcher and part of the immersion. But including the DLCs I really can't think of many games that are this properly immersive through animated/voice acted cut scenes, lore notes, side content, world design, and main line content other than the two I mentioned above.

Breath of the Wild/TTOK are arguably a superior open world sandbox but the story is nowhere close. I've heard Elden Ring has a superb story accessible through hidden lore but I'm only about 20 hours in and I've barely seen a hint of it. I've spent that 20 hours just wandering aimlessly trying to find the next big boss to kill without any real sense of direction or what's going on in this otherworldly locale. Ghost of Tsushima feels like a modern attempt at a Witcher 3 esque game set in feudal Japan, and it's a good one but I don't think it's as good. The main story and side stories are simpler but effective. All the other side content though gets excruciatingly repetitive and while the combat mechanics are better, they also get incredibly repetitive. I'd say GoT has TW3 beat on open world design and atmosphere while TW3 has better cutscene animation, deeper overall writing and more story content to boot, and better designed civilian locations. Skyrim is better as a self insert role playing experience and has better dungeons, but for me the story was just weak overall to accommodate the self insert immersion. There's a lot of story, to be fair, but it's rarely compelling. GTA 5 has good immersive storytelling but I think RDR2, CP2077, and TW3 still clear it in that regard.

Either way, obviously there's a share of warts with this game, given it was CDPR's first true attempt at a AAA title, but to me its strengths still make it a masterpiece and it's still my favorite game of all time.

 

[x Tame Impala]

About halfway through Blood and Wine on my Witcher 3 Next Gen replay. First of all, I know I can play this game in high fidelity on my gaming laptop but this game just feels better as a console title with this kind of graphical improvement.

Man was Hearts of Stone such a ride. The mission with Iris Von Everec's backstory as beautiful and heartbreaking. Gaunter O'dimm is still a more compelling character than like 95% of the rest of the game's cast. Only downside is HoS is a lot lighter on content than Blood & Wine.

I feel like there's still plenty out there that feel like the Witcher 3's combat mechanics suck and the story content doesn't do it for them, but for me, as open world immersive games go the only games in the same tier for storytelling are RDR2 and Cyberpunk 2077.

Yeah the combat is clunky and can be a bit of a button masher where you can disregard most of the RPG elements like crafting and alchemy (save for the hardest difficulty) and yeah the "Witcher senses" investigating can be tedious but it's entirely in character for a Witcher and part of the immersion. But including the DLCs I really can't think of many games that are this properly immersive through animated/voice acted cut scenes, lore notes, side content, world design, and main line content other than the two I mentioned above.

Breath of the Wild/TTOK are arguably a superior open world sandbox but the story is nowhere close. I've heard Elden Ring has a superb story accessible through hidden lore but I'm only about 20 hours in and I've barely seen a hint of it. I've spent that 20 hours just wandering aimlessly trying to find the next big boss to kill without any real sense of direction. Ghost of Tsushima feels like a modern attempt at a Witcher 3 esque game set in feudal Japan, and it's a good one but I don't think it's as good. The main story and side stories are simpler but effective. All the other side content though gets excruciatingly repetitive and while the combat mechanics are better, they also get incredibly repetitive. I'd say GoT has TW3 beat on open world design and atmosphere while TW3 has better cutscene animation, deeper overall writing and more story content to boot, and better destined civilian locations. Skyrim is better as a self insert role playing experience and has better dungeons, but for me the story was just weak overall to accommodate the self insert immersion. There's a lot of story, to be fair, but it's rarely compelling. GTA 5 has good immersive storytelling but I think RDR2, CP2077, and TW3 still clear it in that regard.

Either way, obviously there's a share of warts with this game, given it was CDPR's first true attempt at a AAA title, but to me its strengths still make it a masterpiece and it's still my favorite game of all time.

Touissant is incredible. It’s basically an additional half of a Witcher game. I don’t like those stupid, venom-spitting, murder flowers much at all but I’m otherwise having a great time.

 

[HanSolo]

Touissant is incredible. It’s basically an additional half of a Witcher game. I don’t like those stupid, venom-spitting, murder flowers much at all but I’m otherwise having a great time.

Yeah I do somewhat wish that there was a little more monster variety in the open world to make those less common (I mean there's the giant centipedes but conceptually they're not that different even if they have a different attack pattern) but the lore behind those "murder flowers" appearing to sabotage competing wineries makes the frequency a bit more palatable.

But yeah Touissant as a whole is a stunning addition to the open world (and there's so much content) So much of the map is really pleasant to look at, especially with next Gen rendering.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Yeah I do somewhat wish that there was a little more monster variety in the open world to make those less common (I mean there's the giant centipedes but conceptually they're not that different even if they have a different attack pattern) but the lore behind those "murder flowers" appearing to sabotage competing wineries makes the frequency a bit more palatable.

But yeah Touissant as a whole is a stunning addition to the open world (and there's so much content) So much of the map is really pleasant to look at, especially with next Gen rendering.

I also noticed how after Heart of Stone they added about 40 more “?” locations to Velen. I’m debating if I want to go through all of those too before I finish the game.

I’m not a completionist sort of guy at all. I usually find that sort of thing boring and repetitive. I may just want to finish all the bulletin board quests and the main quests in Touissant and then call it a day. Then I’ll do another playthrough in 2028 when we get our Witcher 4 release date

 

[HanSolo]

I also noticed how after Heart of Stone they added about 40 more “?” locations to Velen. I’m debating if I want to go through all of those too before I finish the game.

I’m not a completionist sort of guy at all. I usually find that sort of thing boring and repetitive. I may just want to finish all the bulletin board quests and the main quests in Touissant and then call it a day. Then I’ll do another playthrough in 2028 when we get our Witcher 4 release date

I'm usually not a completionist either but I'm such a sucker for the love that went into the stories this game told, I don't want to miss any of it. Even if it's just some loot here and there. I never actually did it on my other playthroughs.

 

[HanSolo]

One thing I wanted to add about Blood and Wine that I didn't really appreciate enough on my last playthrough, Geralt's

Spoiler

retirement

in Touissant feels that much more appropriate considering there's more evidence in Touissant of Geralt being heralded by the populace as a gallant hero, compared to the rest of the country where he only gets appreciation from those he helps while everyone else spits in his direction. Geralt deserves the love he gets in Touissant

Spoiler

So it makes sense that he ends up retiring there. He may spend most of his career deflecting hate and prejudice and doesn't dwell on it too long, but it's clear it still bothers him. Retiring in a place he's appreciated is so gratifying.

 

[Unholy Diver]

About 3/4 of the way through Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, enjoying the variety of locales and ghosts

 

[x Tame Impala]

One thing I wanted to add about Blood and Wine that I didn't really appreciate enough on my last playthrough, Geralt's

Spoiler

retirement

in Touissant feels that much more appropriate considering there's more evidence in Touissant of Geralt being heralded by the populace as a gallant hero, compared to the rest of the country where he only gets appreciation from those he helps while everyone else spits in his direction. Geralt deserves the love he gets in Touissant

Spoiler

So it makes sense that he ends up retiring there. He may spend most of his career deflecting hate and prejudice and doesn't dwell on it too long, but it's clear it still bothers him. Retiring in a place he's appreciated is so gratifying.

And he gets a gorgeous vineyard in a Mediterranean coastal city to bang his gorgeous woman in for the rest of his days. I can’t think of a better retirement.

Just finished that Cold Feet quest and man I hate those venomous flowers. I’ve got a handful of side quests/contracts to finish and then I’ll get back to the main story. I’ve had a few quests bug out which is a little lame but it’s not a big deal.