In What Electronic Entertainment Have You Been Partaking #18: Reticulating Splines

[Zardnaar]

Picked up Crusader Kings 3. Haven't got around to playing it yet.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Still have VTMB2 on preorder. Will it ever be finished? Who knows? Is it the new Duke Nukem Forever?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Well, as Path of Exile seems to be one of the current topics, it's what I've been playing most over the last couple of weeks. Heist is probably the worst league lauch since I've been playing - it's buggy, unbalanced and quite obviously needed a few more weeks work before release - but at the same time, the core mechanic of heisting is really fun. On top of that, my starter charcter - Cremation Archmage Necromancer - is a very enjoyable and effective build, with solid though unspectacular clearing (because I have to press two buttons then wait a second for the damage to happen, the damage and area are not lacking) but great single target and a lot of survivability.

As for whether people should play PoE, I'm obviously going to say yes if you like ARPGs (i.e. Diablo-esque games), but I will add the caveat that it is a fair bit faster paced than most of it's competitors. Grim Dawn for example, is a game I probably would've liked if I'd played it before I played PoE, as while it seems like a well made game, but after playing the latter, it just seems so sluggish and dull. Basically, for me, an ARPG should be about killing loads as monsters as quickly as possible, and PoE simply does that best.

I'm enjoying Heist and like the league mechanic, but I'm still in the Acts so I have a bit to go before getting to its harder levels. My Scion is using two Oni goroshi one with molten Strike and the other with Reave. Great fun. I've never played a Scion before and the passive tree is brand new to me. It is pretty interesting and different.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

It took me multiple tries to get them all in there, they kept walking out of it whenever i switched party members.

 

[MaryKB]

Baldur's Gate 3 feels like I'm playing D&D. You even have a d20 you roll for skill checks. I like it so far ... at first I was worried, because I didn't like the same developer's Divine Divinity game, but I'm happily surprised.

 

[Ajidica]

Baldur's Gate 3 feels like I'm playing D&D. You even have a d20 you roll for skill checks. I like it so far ... at first I was worried, because I didn't like the same developer's Divine Divinity game, but I'm happily surprised.

If you like Baldurs Gate III, you need to check out Divinity: Original Sin 2. Every review I've read of BG3 says that combat is quite dull compared to DOS2 because they were saddled with the D&D combat system.

 

[MaryKB]

If you like Baldurs Gate III, you need to check out Divinity: Original Sin 2. Every review I've read of BG3 says that combat is quite dull compared to DOS2 because they were saddled with the D&D combat system.

That's the one I played, and I didn't like it at all.

 

[local_hero]

@MaryKB

I believe I've seen you post in the civ6 general discussion. Do you still play it sometimes?

 

[AmazonQueen]

That's the one I played, and I didn't like it at all.

You could try Pathfinder Kingmaker.
Its very D&D 3.5ish.
Pathfinder is D&D for nerds though. Incredibly easy to mess up characters if you don't plan them out.

 

[MaryKB]

@MaryKB

I believe I've seen you post in the civ6 general discussion. Do you still play it sometimes?

Rarely, but once in a while.

 

[Ajidica]

That's the one I played, and I didn't like it at all.

Okay. The studio behind Divinity OS and BG3 also put out a few games under the 'Divine Divinity' title a while ago.

 

[local_hero]

I'm back to playing games I've played already... Don't have energy to learn how to play a new game. Sigh.

So I'm playing Okami again, for which time I don't know.

 

[Synobun]

Witcher 3 has become more fun. Lots of side quests. Leveling is weird.

Foglets are bugged beyond belief. And the movement system leaves a lot to be desired. But fun overall.

 

[Ajidica]

Witcher 3 has become more fun. Lots of side quests. Leveling is weird.

Foglets are bugged beyond belief. And the movement system leaves a lot to be desired. But fun overall.

How is leveling weird? Invest skill points to either unlock new abilities or improve existing ones. As long as you max out quick attack at some point, you can't really go wrong.
What do you mean by foglets being bugged? They are definitely tricky buggers to fight, but nowhere near as annoying as wraiths if you use the trap spell (Yrden, the purple one, I think).

 

[Synobun]

How is leveling weird? Invest skill points to either unlock new abilities or improve existing ones. As long as you max out quick attack at some point, you can't really go wrong.
What do you mean by foglets being bugged? They are definitely tricky buggers to fight, but nowhere near as annoying as wraiths if you use the trap spell (Yrden, the purple one, I think).

Ah, just with how quests are leveled. I've been free roaming and exploring all the villages and question marks in Velen, and I'll get a quest for level 6, then in the next village, a quest for level 24. There doesn't seem to be significant rhyme or reason to how levels are distributed throughout the world. The actual leveling itself is fine. I like the synergy between mutagens and abilities.

About half the foglets in my game stay permanently illusioned and are invulnerable to damage and effects. Their health bars are blank too. They don't attack me, so that's fine, but Geralt automatically remains aggro because of them and then I can't loot the foglets I can kill. Thankfully, the foglet quest wasn't bugged.

 

[Ajidica]

Ah, just with how quests are leveled. I've been free roaming and exploring all the villages and question marks in Velen, and I'll get a quest for level 6, then in the next village, a quest for level 24. There doesn't seem to be significant rhyme or reason to how levels are distributed throughout the world. The actual leveling itself is fine. I like the synergy between mutagens and abilities.

Right, some monster hunting quests are a way higher level than you are when issued. It is intended you come back to Velen to take care of them.

About half the foglets in my game stay permanently illusioned and are invulnerable to damage and effects. Their health bars are blank too. They don't attack me, so that's fine, but Geralt automatically remains aggro because of them and then I can't loot the foglets I can kill. Thankfully, the foglet quest wasn't bugged.

Huh, I've never had that problem before.
Also, in case you are using the autolevel enemies option (because it is really easy to overlevel in this game) make sure you turn it off when fighting rats as they are supposed to be level 1 (while you are level 13 or so), but the game levels them up to 13 along with you. End result is that you get ripped to pieces in an instant by ten level 13 rats when you should only be taking minor chip damage.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

@Synsensa for the really high-level Velen quests (and the far-south area), you return there later in the story. I wont spoil you though.

 

[local_hero]

@Synsensa like the others have said, but I'd also like to add one thing. I think the leveling is weird in the beginning, because you have a low level relative to several of the early game quests. But if you like doing side missions, level and xp won't be a problem. You might even level so you only get 1 xp for story missions (think it is if you are 5 or more levels above).

 

[Farm Boy]

Picked up Crusader Kings 3. Haven't got around to playing it yet.

Have you emerged from the den of incest, murder, and debauchery yet?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

i lick video games