OT: Video Game Talk (oh, also the Week before the All-Star Break Pre-Game Talk "archive")

[expatriatedtexan]

I finished Fallout, the show. I never played a Fallout game so I might have been lost during certain aspects, but the show was ridiculously good. It isn't perfect, but a great cast makes up for the inconsistencies. For example, I thought Lucy's story got worse as it went along (the ending made up for it) and the Ghouls got so much better.

For the lot who have played the games, why are all characters like over 200+ years old? That was one part I was really confused about, and also why Vault 32 killed each other or something?


When you get 200 trillion views, that means you get some people with taste listening to your music.

Or one crazy fanatic with a ton of time on their hands.

 

[S E P H]

Or one crazy fanatic with a ton of time on their hands.

I don't know who that person would be...

 

[sethro109]

I finished Fallout, the show. I never played a Fallout game so I might have been lost during certain aspects, but the show was ridiculously good. It isn't perfect, but a great cast makes up for the inconsistencies. For example, I thought Lucy's story got worse as it went along (the ending made up for it) and the Ghouls got so much better.

For the lot who have played the games, why are all characters like over 200+ years old? That was one part I was really confused about, and also why Vault 32 killed each other or something?

I haven't watched the show, (actually I decided not to watch it after what they did to new Vegas) so I don't know who you're talking about specifically. But I remember a few of the reasons for the long lived races.

Ghouls because of the radiation poisoning have an extremely slow metabolism. It's said in the game lore that no Ghoul has ever died of old age. But as a side effect, they can't naturally heal from wounds and their skin and muscles never replace themselves.

Super Mutants had their DNA changed to never are, but as a side effect, they lose their biological sex and some even grow stronger with age.

Some also use a machines like cryo chambers to sustain and extend their lives.

I'm sure there's others too, but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.


As for the vaults. They are (in my opinion) the most evil thing in that universe. All the vaults are actually secret test chambers, with unique variables. Some vaults are "normal" because these were the control subjects.

The most f***ed up vault (again in my opinion) was vault 75. Where they made children into super soldiers, so they could "purge" the wasteland and start humanity anew. And if the children got too old or they didn't perform well enough, they were disposed of. When in reality, they were just trying to create the best possible genetic material.


There's also vault 12, where the door was purposes broken, so they could see the side effects from extreme radiation poisoning. They all either died, or turned into ghouls.

 

[henchman21]

Or one crazy fanatic with a ton of time on their hands.

And when one visits Korea… you quickly find out these videos are on constant repeat on every u25’s phone.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

And when one visits Korea… you quickly find out these videos are on constant repeat on every u25’s phone.

I mean, still 200 trillion views is an awful lot. The world's population as of September 2, 2024 is estimated to be 8,173,941,862. For a song to get 200,000,000,000,000 views, it would require every single woman, man and child to listen to it 24,468 times.

I'm not so sure I've ever listened to a single song much more than a one or two thousand times and that would be just a few songs that have truly stuck with me over 52 years of life so far. Again, 1,000 times would be a truly staggering amount of time to dedicate to a single song. Figure on average somewhere around 3 minutes for a song. That's over 2 days of someone's entire life listening to the same song. Not a lot of songs get that kind of attention from me.

To be honest, the only song that I've come close to listening to 24,468 times is Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" and that is definitely not by choice. More like f***ing torture or at least cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[sethro109]

@expatriatedtexan

So I finally beat Black Myth Wukong. Took my 52.4 (According to steam) hours of play time. That's with the true/good ending. To get the good ending you have to get the bad ending first, but you don't have to play the entire game all over again, you just need to "Continue Journey" instead of starting a new game+. Then do all the stuff in secret areas for the first 5 chapters.

This game is pretty unique for a souls like. It's almost more of a boss rush. There are bosses around every corner, and except some of the giant rock ones are all unique and have their own move set. They also come in a verity of sizes.

The story was excellent, and the cutscenes were amazing, but there are only a handful in the game. I don't know much about The journey to the west. And I'm sure knowing the story would definitely be a benefit to the experience.

The Visuals and world were beautiful, and there was a lot to explore and many secrets to find, but there are A LOT of invisible walls in this game. There's one area that seems mostly open, but the invisible walls keep you on a pretty strict path. I got lost here, because where I assumed there was an invisible wall, but it was actually the path that I needed for progression. There is one giant open area in the later part of the game. Tons of bosses in the area, but also a lot of nothing too. I wish they would have filled in that part a bit more.

The combat was almost perfect. There were just a few (I remember 2) bosses that have odd hit boxes that make it very frustrating. This game is all about dodging. You do get a parry pretty early in the story, but they tie it to your Mana bar, which can only be refilled at shrines. It's also on a cool down after use, so you can't be RE4 Remake spamming parry here.

The rest of the spells tied to your mana are all fun to use, but they don't let you equip all of them at the same time. I also never really felt the need to switch up the spells I liked, but I think that's more on me, than the game.

The game also has a transformation system that's pretty neat. You can transform in to a bunch of different enemies (91 if you find them all) for a quick one off attack before in goes back on cool down. However, I also didn't really utilize this system to the fullest, because I found one (In the first area) that gave me a huge passive defense increase. He also delivers a quick, hard hit. So I never changed off of him..... I regret that now. I probably would have had more fun just trying them all.

Pros:
- Combat
- World
- Story

Cons:
- Invisible walls
- Some hit boxes on certain bosses

meh:
- The boss for one of the chapter is very hard if you don't find the secret area.

- Last boss difficulty spike.

 

[henchman21]

I mean, still 200 trillion views is an awful lot. The world's population as of September 2, 2024 is estimated to be 8,173,941,862. For a song to get 200,000,000,000,000 views, it would require every single woman, man and child to listen to it 24,468 times.

I'm not so sure I've ever listened to a single song much more than a one or two thousand times and that would be just a few songs that have truly stuck with me over 52 years of life so far. Again, 1,000 times would be a truly staggering amount of time to dedicate to a single song. Figure on average somewhere around 3 minutes for a song. That's over 2 days of someone's entire life listening to the same song. Not a lot of songs get that kind of attention from me.

To be honest, the only song that I've come close to listening to 24,468 times is Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" and that is definitely not by choice. More like f***ing torture or at least cruel and unusual punishment.

These are the autistic posts I love so much.

Also, I'd be shocked if 25,000 wasn't the low end in Korea.

 

[The Merchant]

Hype check for Astrobot? Can't f***ing wait for Friday

 

[expatriatedtexan]

These are the autistic posts I love so much.

Also, I'd be shocked if 25,000 wasn't the low end in Korea.

15 minutes until Wopner.

15 minutes until Wopner.

Woops. Uh-oh, I farted.

15 minutes until Wopner....

 

[expatriatedtexan]

@expatriatedtexan

So I finally beat Black Myth Wukong. Took my 52.4 (According to steam) hours of play time. That's with the true/good ending. To get the good ending you have to get the bad ending first, but you don't have to play the entire game all over again, you just need to "Continue Journey" instead of starting a new game+. Then do all the stuff in secret areas for the first 5 chapters.

This game is pretty unique for a souls like. It's almost more of a boss rush. There are bosses around every corner, and except some of the giant rock ones are all unique and have their own move set. They also come in a verity of sizes.

The story was excellent, and the cutscenes were amazing, but there are only a handful in the game. I don't know much about The journey to the west. And I'm sure knowing the story would definitely be a benefit to the experience.

The Visuals and world were beautiful, and there was a lot to explore and many secrets to find, but there are A LOT of invisible walls in this game. There's one area that seems mostly open, but the invisible walls keep you on a pretty strict path. I got lost here, because where I assumed there was an invisible wall, but it was actually the path that I needed for progression. There is one giant open area in the later part of the game. Tons of bosses in the area, but also a lot of nothing too. I wish they would have filled in that part a bit more.

The combat was almost perfect. There were just a few (I remember 2) bosses that have odd hit boxes that make it very frustrating. This game is all about dodging. You do get a parry pretty early in the story, but they tie it to your Mana bar, which can only be refilled at shrines. It's also on a cool down after use, so you can't be RE4 Remake spamming parry here.
View attachment 904850

The rest of the spells tied to your mana are all fun to use, but they don't let you equip all of them at the same time. I also never really felt the need to switch up the spells I liked, but I think that's more on me, than the game.

The game also has a transformation system that's pretty neat. You can transform in to a bunch of different enemies (91 if you find them all) for a quick one off attack before in goes back on cool down. However, I also didn't really utilize this system to the fullest, because I found one (In the first area) that gave me a huge passive defense increase. He also delivers a quick, hard hit. So I never changed off of him..... I regret that now. I probably would have had more fun just trying them all.

Pros:
- Combat
- World
- Story

Cons:
- Invisible walls
- Some hit boxes on certain bosses

meh:
- The boss for one of the chapter is very hard if you don't find the secret area.

- Last boss difficulty spike.

Okay! So that looks fun and similar to games I played in my 20s once technology allowed action games to get good with up close and personal combat. I played and dabbled in Devil May Cry and had a blast. Just never finished it because we had one console, me and my wife both using it and we each had dozens of games. They didn't all get finished. In fact I only really finished the NHL games by playing a complete season or finishing the story on a few of the platformers I had (Jax and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Spyro the Drago).

This looks like one I'm definitely interested in giving a try to. I've added it to my Steam Wishlist and hope to grab it during the Winter Sale regardless of how much or little the price drops. I should be ready by then to tackle something completely new and fun. I didn't pick up any games this summer on the Steam Sale as I've been burning through my back catalogue.

Finally got done with everything but the Dragon's Age series (which I can put off or play on a slower pace while enjoying other games as well). But the ending of the last major game I had left just put a real damper on gaming for me a bit.

Spoiler: Spoiler - Cyberpun 2077

I have no idea what it was that my character did or said, but I was never prepared for him to commit suicide like that. I don't like to think of myself as particularly weak, but that was a bit hard on me as a dude that actually takes medication to stop visualizing mental images of myself putting a gun to head every morning when I wake up.

 

[sethro109]

Okay! So that looks fun and similar to games I played in my 20s once technology allowed action games to get good with up close and personal combat. I played and dabbled in Devil May Cry and had a blast. Just never finished it because we had one console, me and my wife both using it and we each had dozens of games. They didn't all get finished. In fact I only really finished the NHL games by playing a complete season or finishing the story on a few of the platformers I had (Jax and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Spyro the Drago).

This looks like one I'm definitely interested in giving a try to. I've added it to my Steam Wishlist and hope to grab it during the Winter Sale regardless of how much or little the price drops. I should be ready by then to tackle something completely new and fun. I didn't pick up any games this summer on the Steam Sale as I've been burning through my back catalogue.

Finally got done with everything but the Dragon's Age series (which I can put off or play on a slower pace while enjoying other games as well). But the ending of the last major game I had left just put a real damper on gaming for me a bit.

Spoiler: Spoiler - Cyberpun 2077

I have no idea what it was that my character did or said, but I was never prepared for him to commit suicide like that. I don't like to think of myself as particularly weak, but that was a bit hard on me as a dude that actually takes medication to stop visualizing mental images of myself putting a gun to head every morning when I wake up.

I do highly recommend Black Myth. It was a blast.

As for cyberpunk, That's definitely the bad ending. There are a few ways for the game to end,

Spoiler: Endings

There's that ending with the gun.

One where Johnny sacrifices himself, and V gets his/her body back

and one where V sacrifices himself, and Johnny gets the body

There's actually a bunch more, depending on what things and dialog choices you made throughout the game. But that's what will ultimately happen. The secret ending in the base game is actually a pain in the ass to get. I don't know how people would have found it without a guide. You have to make very specific dialog choices when talking to Johnny during certain missions and make sure your friend score with him is high enough. Then, when you go to the roof at the end of the game to decide what to do, you have to leave it on the choice screen for a literal 5 minutes. Only then the option for the secret ending will appear.

There was also a new ending added for the DLC, that I never did. But I still don't think there's a way to

Spoiler: ending

Save both V and Johnny or at least not let them both continue to share the body

 

[The Moops]

I finally picked up an Xbox Series X yesterday. I haven't played Xbox since the 360 days. And I spent all day downloading games, so that was fun. But last night I did do remote play to my Steam Deck and that was awesome. NHL 24 is a bit different than NHL 15 which is the last one I think I played. I'm no good anymore

 

[henchman21]

I finally picked up an Xbox Series X yesterday. I haven't played Xbox since the 360 days. And I spent all day downloading games, so that was fun. But last night I did do remote play to my Steam Deck and that was awesome. NHL 24 is a bit different than NHL 15 which is the last one I think I played. I'm no good anymore

If you haven't already, get Game Pass. There are tricks and such to get it cheap or even 'free' (for your data since you become the product). The value is through the roof and you end up playing a ton of games you wouldn't otherwise play. It gets a lot of hate, but it really is an excellent value.

I do highly recommend Black Myth. It was a blast.

As for cyberpunk, That's definitely the bad ending. There are a few ways for the game to end,

Spoiler: Endings

There's that ending with the gun.

One where Johnny sacrifices himself, and V gets his/her body back

and one where V sacrifices himself, and Johnny gets the body

There's actually a bunch more, depending on what things and dialog choices you made throughout the game. But that's what will ultimately happen. The secret ending in the base game is actually a pain in the ass to get. I don't know how people would have found it without a guide. You have to make very specific dialog choices when talking to Johnny during certain missions and make sure your friend score with him is high enough. Then, when you go to the roof at the end of the game to decide what to do, you have to leave it on the choice screen for a literal 5 minutes. Only then the option for the secret ending will appear.

There was also a new ending added for the DLC, that I never did. But I still don't think there's a way to

Spoiler: ending

Save both V and Johnny or at least not let them both continue to share the body

IMO the most fitting ending is probably the worst ending. It happens in PL

Spoiler: Spoiler

The one where you survive, get treated. But are powerless, your merc career ends, and you end up getting jumped unable to defend yourself. You survive as was your goal... but at what cost?

 

[sethro109]

If you haven't already, get Game Pass. There are tricks and such to get it cheap or even 'free' (for your data since you become the product). The value is through the roof and you end up playing a ton of games you wouldn't otherwise play. It gets a lot of hate, but it really is an excellent value.


IMO the most fitting ending is probably the worst ending. It happens in PL

Spoiler: Spoiler

The one where you survive, get treated. But are powerless, your merc career ends, and you end up getting jumped unable to defend yourself. You survive as was your goal... but at what cost?

I didn't know that was the PL ending. When I played the Pal ending I went for the base game secret ending since I missed it on my first playthrough.

It is fitting in a way, especially if you played as a asshole/renegade.

 

[henchman21]

I didn't know that was the PL ending. When I played the Pal ending I went for the base game secret ending since I missed it on my first playthrough.

It is fitting in a way, especially if you played as a asshole/renegade.

I think there’s 6 or 7 PL endings, but that’s the one I felt was the most fitting for the game. It is bleak, but very fitting.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I was a nomad in Cyberpunk for what difference that makes. I really didn't get into the special skills, just traited into both assault rifles and shotguns, then Leroy Jenkins'd my way through the big fights. It was actually pretty fun, but with a little planning nothing to troublesome. I just wasn't in a good place when I hit that ending it was more than my damn head was ready for at the time and it unfortunately kinda turned me off of gaming for a few weeks. Just took me a bit to feel like heading into another game.

Which I did last night for the first time since after I got home from Chemo. I got into DayZ and just ran around absolutely harrassing the other newbies mercilessly on the coast for about 45 minutes and started to feel better about gaming. A can of peaches is such an under-rated weapon in DayZ. Nobody expects to get cold-cocked by the dude running around with a can of peaches and no other weapons.

 

[The Merchant]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1831698913721795017

 

[henchman21]

It looks like a really good 3D platformer and up there with the Mario Odyssey and Galaxy 2 greats. It'll be a fun one to dive into.

(and is perfect timing for Concord already being killed)

 

[S E P H]

I haven't watched the show, (actually I decided not to watch it after what they did to new Vegas) so I don't know who you're talking about specifically. But I remember a few of the reasons for the long lived races.

Ghouls because of the radiation poisoning have an extremely slow metabolism. It's said in the game lore that no Ghoul has ever died of old age. But as a side effect, they can't naturally heal from wounds and their skin and muscles never replace themselves.

Super Mutants had their DNA changed to never are, but as a side effect, they lose their biological sex and some even grow stronger with age.

Some also use a machines like cryo chambers to sustain and extend their lives.

I'm sure there's others too, but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.


As for the vaults. They are (in my opinion) the most evil thing in that universe. All the vaults are actually secret test chambers, with unique variables. Some vaults are "normal" because these were the control subjects.

The most f***ed up vault (again in my opinion) was vault 75. Where they made children into super soldiers, so they could "purge" the wasteland and start humanity anew. And if the children got too old or they didn't perform well enough, they were disposed of. When in reality, they were just trying to create the best possible genetic material.


There's also vault 12, where the door was purposes broken, so they could see the side effects from extreme radiation poisoning. They all either died, or turned into ghouls.

Thanks for the in-depth report!

What did they do to New Vegas?

 

[henchman21]

Thanks for the in-depth report!

What did they do to New Vegas?

Timelines are different and don't fit with the canon of the video games. Basement dwellers with too much time on their hands have taken that as Bethesda is evil and wants to wipe out New Vegas. Instead of what is more likely the case... TV writers taking liberties with a story to craft their own narrative. Things don't always match.


Also Han shot first.

 

[S E P H]

Timelines are different and don't fit with the canon of the video games. Basement dwellers with too much time on their hands have taken that as Bethesda is evil and wants to wipe out New Vegas. Instead of what is more likely the case... TV writers taking liberties with a story to craft their own narrative. Things don't always match.


Also Han shot first.

Wasn't New Vegas, like the best Fallout game? Weird to go after that...

 

[henchman21]

Wasn't New Vegas, like the best Fallout game? Weird to go after that...

I think it is the best game in the series. The show will still have New Vegas, very clear after the finale... it'll probably just be different than the game. IMO when it comes to any video game adaptation, you can't directly swap over the stories. You need some tweaks to deal with the different mediums of storytelling. Hell, The Last of Us was very faithful all things considered and made some very significant changes too. Just the nature of these sort of adaptations.

 

[sethro109]

Thanks for the in-depth report!

What did they do to New Vegas?

At the end of the show, they showed that New Vegas was destroyed.

 

[sethro109]

Timelines are different and don't fit with the canon of the video games. Basement dwellers with too much time on their hands have taken that as Bethesda is evil and wants to wipe out New Vegas. Instead of what is more likely the case... TV writers taking liberties with a story to craft their own narrative. Things don't always match.


Also Han shot first.

I won't deny that I'm a basement dwelling, purest. That shit was fantastic, and to see them throw it away for shock value in a TV show doesn't make me want to watch the show. I would rather they actually went there with the strip all lit up and tons of little nods to the game.

Todd is probably just mad people liked the game made by Obsidian more.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Hogwarts Legacy is 70% off right now. Might bite the bullet and get that.