With how badly ISPs throttle connections here in the States good luck at this thing taking off outside the niche.
General Video Game Discussion
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When I impulsively bought my PSVR bundle on Black Friday I was under the impression there were more games on it that I would want but quite a few of them aren't available on disc and so there's no discount for used ones on some of them. Bummer. I guess I'll just have to wait for a good sale deal. There's no way to know in advance which ones will be getting a discount on the Playstation store, is there? Or a way to request one's price be lowered via petition? Wishful thinking, I know, but I want to get my money's worth. It just feels like the VR market is drying up rather than expanding and that's depressing.
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VR is cool for tech demos but I've yet to see an actual game on it that isn't a tech demo or something to just screw around with for an hour (or I think there are some walking sims). At least some older games (like HL2) have made use of it but that isn't PSVR.
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Could I get a little help from any Yakuza series fan/follower around here? Thing is, I'm not too far from finishing Kiwami 2, after finishing Zero and Kiwami. My idea was to do the whole series in order (Kiwami 3, etc. . .), but I kinda really want to play 6, cause honestly, it seems like the next 3 Kiwami remakes will take (literal) ages. How lost will I be if I jump from where I'm at right now straight to 6? Is 6 worth doing this jump and trying to fill in the gaps by myself through wikis and stuff? Should I be patient and play Yakuza 6 in 3-4 years?
Also, which are the best games in the saga according to you? So far, I gotta go with Zero. Kiwami and, specially, Kiwami 2 are great remakes done with great care. . .but Zero trumps them in almost every area (except for graphics; the dragon engine does look good). How does the rest of the saga compare?
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Could I get a little help from any Yakuza series fan/follower around here? Thing is, I'm not too far from finishing Kiwami 2, after finishing Zero and Kiwami. My idea was to do the whole series in order (Kiwami 3, etc. . .), but I kinda really want to play 6, cause honestly, it seems like the next 3 Kiwami remakes will take (literal) ages. How lost will I be if I jump from where I'm at right now straight to 6? Is 6 worth doing this jump and trying to fill in the gaps by myself through wikis and stuff? Should I be patient and play Yakuza 6 in 3-4 years?
Also, which are the best games in the saga according to you? So far, I gotta go with Zero. Kiwami and, specially, Kiwami 2 are great remakes done with great care. . .but Zero trumps them in almost every area (except for graphics; the dragon engine does look good). How does the rest of the saga compare?
They're planning on releasing 3-4-5 somewhat shortly with ports instead of "remaking" them as Kiwamis, which is for the better given how cheap those remakes have been compared to the originals (from the inferior remixes to flat out removing certain tracks, many scenes are altered for the worst, worse combat especially with bosses and annoying awful systems like the Majima Everywhere).
As for jumping from 2 to 6, i would advise not to if you care about either story or gameplay. Its widely considered by the fanbase the second worst in story (only behind 3), and arguably the worst gameplay wise given it was the first to run on the Dragon Engine with all the problems still to be ironed out (environments being more interactive by dismissing gravity resulting in a floaty slow mess which takes away what little skill was incentivized before). You may still like it, but coming out from 0 which is arguably the best on both aspects plus many other little touches (some of the best side quests and minigames), could be quite a whiplash. -
Thanks for the answer!
Surprised about (what I assume is) the consensus on the Kiwami remakes. I like Kiwami 2; it's true I don't remember much about the original Yakuza 2, but this seems to me to be superior. There's a shitload of content (even TOO much content I'd say, if that makes any sense), and, to me at least, the fighting feels right. Yeah, there's some weird physics at work here, and striping down the mechanics from 4 fighting styles to just one might seem like a massive oversimplification. . .but it just feels right to me, I don't know why. The way you send people flying, the parry mechanics. . .it just feels great. Might be just me, though.
The things that don't quite feel right are, in fact, remnants of the original game; the sub-stories are way below Zero's, for example. The karaoke is way worse, surprisingly (at least the UI feels wrong), the home-run mini game is also way worse than in Zero and, even Kiwami? I don't know, that's weird. But everything else, I'm enjoying a lot.
And the cutscenes in Zero are also way better, but are they so much worse than in the original Yakuza 2? Again, can't remember. . .
Anyways, you did deflate my Yakuza 6 hype big time, so. . .I'll wait, hahaha.
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They're planning on releasing 3-4-5 somewhat shortly with ports instead of "remaking" them as Kiwamis, which is for the better given how cheap those remakes have been compared to the originals
Actually these remasters are the epitome of cheap even more so than the Kiwami duology given how not that old they are (which is good part of what's been wrong with remasters for the last 8 years or so).
That aside expect though we'll ever get a remaster of Kenzan or a localization of Isshin which I'd rather have than those 3 hell I'd even take the PSP spinoffs.
As for jumping from 2 to 6, i would advise not to if you care about either story or gameplay. Its widely considered by the fanbase the second worst in story (only behind 3),
People actually hate 3's story more than 4?
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Instaled Magic the Gathering Arena, and found fun in the green/blue merfolk deck. Will keep me playing during low hearthstone seasons.
Bought Katamari Damaci ignoring the warnings of my own body of the damn camera. Probably should write that one off.
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Sekiro is really really good.
Instaled Magic the Gathering Arena, and found fun in the green/blue merfolk deck. Will keep me playing during low hearthstone seasons.
Unlock the B/W lifelink deck, that thing is ridiculous and gets people real mad.
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I love Sekiro but god is this game brutal.
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Yes, yes it is.
And it's a breath of fresh air from the other Fromsoft titles that were artificially difficult. The controller support on PC though is straight-up garbage. Been trying to get my DS4 to work since Friday and still couldn't get it to work. Other than that, this game kicks ass.
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@Cyan:
Sekiro is really really good.
Unlock the B/W lifelink deck, that thing is ridiculous and gets people real mad.
At the very least I plan to unlock all the free decks, did you know that there are 2 universal codes that give you 3 packs each for some of the new sets?
PlayRavnica and PlayAllegiance
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Didn't like the white/red token deck. Sometimes the draw engine got online (whenever you make a 2/x or less pay 1 to draw a card, nice surprise that it included tokens tho) and it worked, but when it didn't it was a slow painful death.
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Shantae 5 is coming for Switch, PS4, XBX1, PC and Apple Arcade.
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+1 to the Sekiro love. I'm getting my ass kicked left right and center, of course. . .but it's just so beautiful.
It might sound weird, but my favorite things so far are the setting, the level design and moving around with the hook. Is just. . .so good.
Too bad then Giant Spear Fucking Asshole appears and kills me 20 times in a row and fuck him to hell and back but oh well. . .I knew what I was getting into. . .
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Kind of wish the game went back to Pirate's Curse's art style.
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Shantae 5 is coming for Switch, PS4, XBX1, PC and Apple Arcade.
Made my day right there!
Nice to see they were able to move this forward (way forward…eh? eh?!) Without needing to kickstart it.
I kinda want to see some more bosses tho, the same dudes showing up every game is cute but a bit redundant.
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+1 to the Sekiro love. I'm getting my ass kicked left right and center, of course. . .but it's just so beautiful.
It might sound weird, but my favorite things so far are the setting, the level design and moving around with the hook. Is just. . .so good.
Too bad then Giant Spear Fucking Asshole appears and kills me 20 times in a row and fuck him to hell and back but oh well. . .I knew what I was getting into. . .
The game is pretty difficult but it's so satisfying to finally beat certain bosses. I remember using fire to take out much of the spear guy's health. But other than that I've learned the bosses' movesets and overcame them. The one critique I would have for the game is that it is easy to get lost. Maybe I have a problem with directions in certain environments but I'm getting lost in this game far more than in Bloodborne.
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They completelly overhauled the new player experience on magic, instead of just "one quest a day for a new deck (up to the 10 of them), and a easy quest for that deck (like 3-5 games played), for a pack", now is a whole sphere grid system, and leveling up to 30 for the 10 decks, unlocking 5 on the board and the other 5 when it ends.
As I already have 3 of the dual colored decks, it's not that bad for me, but the mono-color decks were so boring compared to the good dual color ones that this might not be the best decision.
The progression seems better, as the grid slowly improves your monocolor decks, but sadly just to the point where they were before the change, and I don't know if the extra cards become wildcards (basically, blank cards that you can turn into any card of the same rarity), or not.
But if I manage to get a new copy of every card on these 3 decks that I already had… oh boy, that sweet sweet second phoenix and merfolk king mythic rare.
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https://www.twitch.tv/gearboxofficial
Reminder that the Gearbox PAX East presentation is in about 20 minutes
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Allright, today's magic session went better, while the new mode requires tons more of play to unlock stuff, they also added the AI opponent that you can cheese with almost anything, except that awful red control deck that they give you to start. Isn't red supposed to be the color of agro?
I can pace myself and level up 5 times each day to unlock a new deck, no special reason for that number, just the proper lenght of a play session, the issue is that the first day there was no unlock, as you need to get to 10 to unlock two neighbour trees to get the deck of those two colors, but the rest of days is one new deck at the end.
Again, if I wasn't already started on the other way, this way would be better, but I was already bored of the mono decks, and kinda feels dirty to use the dual ones against AI as those are kinda good, and I already "get" them. I went green to farm for the red/green one, those big dinosaurs make a very satisfying sound when they hit face.
Have to pick either black or white for tomorrow, white is a new deck for white and green, but black is the sacrifice tokens red and black that I already have, and I would be very happy if I happen to obtain a duplicate of that whole deck, as the phoenix and the 1/1 that revives from the graveyard are very fun.
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@S.C.:
Replaying-it, I wish they'd do a HD Remake of Oblivion, just to get rid of everyone's fat faces and giant noses.
Scratch that. After playing it for the first time, Morrowind deserves a remake twice as much. I didn't have an Xbox back in the day, so I missed this game, but damn, it's such a left turn from your usual fantasy environment.
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@S.C.:
Scratch that. After playing it for the first time, Morrowind deserves a remake twice as much. I didn't have an Xbox back in the day, so I missed this game, but damn, it's such a left turn from your usual fantasy environment.
The spell and alchemy system is so horrendously unbalanced that all forms of melee are pointless and goddamn are the expansions overtuned in difficulty, but Morrowind's a good time. If you're playing PC look into texture modding the hell out of it, the theoretical art direction really pops when not expressed in 40x40 textures and bootleg meshes.
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@Cyan:
The spell and alchemy system is so horrendously unbalanced that all forms of melee are pointless and goddamn are the expansions overtuned in difficulty, but Morrowind's a good time. If you're playing PC look into texture modding the hell out of it, the theoretical art direction really pops when not expressed in 40x40 textures and bootleg meshes.
Ahh. So, being a Nord Warrior isn't as good then?
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@S.C.:
Ahh. So, being a Nord Warrior isn't as good then?
I mean you can have a real good time as Nord Big Axe Man (my most recent Morrowind playthrough was as Khajiit Face-Puncher and that's a fucking trip), it's just that the way alchemy and magic is done means that the temptation to break the game over your knee with them is omnipresent.
Invest in getting some form of a levitation spell as soon as possible, though.
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@Cyan:
I mean you can have a real good time as Nord Big Axe Man (my most recent Morrowind playthrough was as Khajiit Face-Puncher and that's a fucking trip), it's just that the way alchemy and magic is done means that the temptation to break the game over your knee with them is omnipresent.
Invest in getting some form of a levitation spell as soon as possible, though.
I do like being a Khajiit martial artist in Oblivion and Skyrim (especially with mods for it), but not being able to use certain helmets and boots in Morrowind as a beast-man is annoying. Logical, yes, but still annoying. (Also, hand to hand does only stamina damage? The f***?)
And thanks. My friend who gave me the X-Box to play it told me you need Levitation for the mushroom towers and the moon thing.
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Is Hand to hand actually playable in Morrowind? I remember it taking forever to kill enemies in Oblivion with it.
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@S.C.:
My friend who gave me the X-Box to play it told me you need Levitation for the mushroom towers and the moon thing.
Oh you are playing on Xbox. Okay here's another head's up: after many hours of playing Morrowind Xbox version, the game will start freezing up and crashing because it was programmed like garbage. You can mitigate it by closing doors behind you (no really.)
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@David:
Is Hand to hand actually playable in Morrowind? I remember it taking forever to kill enemies in Oblivion with it.
For some odd reason, it doesn't actually hurt someone, just their stamina. Then, after they are knocked out, then you can hurt them. I have no idea why they chose that.
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@David:
Is Hand to hand actually playable in Morrowind? I remember it taking forever to kill enemies in Oblivion with it.
It takes some doing, mostly because you have to wear down enemy stamina (and thus knocking them flat on their ass) before you can start actually doing health damage.
The first time you manage to punch a Dark Brotherhood assassin to death is hardcore as shit.
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Hehe, sounds pretty hilarious in a good way.
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Also, in Oblivion, did you find those two gladiators outside the arena in the Imperial City? They have a item in the chest that buffs up hand to hand, but you have to steal it.
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I don't remember, but if I ever touch that playthrough again I'll check it out, thanks. :)
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@David:
I don't remember, but if I ever touch that playthrough again I'll check it out, thanks. :)
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Bands_of_Kwang_Lao
Here you are. there's another such item that's heavy armor, but it's only +9 instead of +20.
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Yeah, thanks! I think my character used Heavy armor.
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@Cyan:
Okay here's another head's up: after many hours of playing Morrowind Xbox version, the game will start freezing up and crashing because it was programmed like garbage.
Hmmmm so at least we know where the PS3 version of Skyrim got it's inspiration.
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Hearthstone next expansion is going HARD on the anti combo tools.
With the rotation, Warlock (with a easy discard that usually does nothing, a 3 card combo that requires an specific board that destroys your opponent's hand, and a big legendary that you pay like 30+ mana over multiple turns to destroy their whole deck), and the neutrals (the gheist that destroys every 1 mana spell in the current game, and one of the 8 lich king cards that steals (not copies) one random minion from the opponent), or just plain burning their cards by causing overdraw (most notably Druid losing their 1 mana spells that destroys an enemy minion, and they draw two cards, very disruptive if you are close to a full hand), or the no longer viable combo of using that one card that swaps decks (after you expending your own deck) and gives the victim a card to recover it, but if you have a full hand you don't get it, of if you use the other legendary that copies your opponent's hand you get the spell to swap back as well, in order to swap back again.
Besides the classic "let me make you draw extra cards or put random cards to make you burn your next draws" supported by multiple cards, the neutral "lets go back to 5 mana", a paladin card that makes you inmune to damage until your next turn (used more in favor of combos rather than against), and the warlock only "let me turn a card in your hand into a random demon, now your combo is dead" or the unplayable thanos spell, of destroying half of both decks, disruption options were limited last year, but now we got a neutral that summons them a minion from their deck, a minion that makes you inmune to spells for one turn, a minion that makes one spell from their hand fire randomly, and a paladin card that summons minions from both decks and makes them fight, and probably a few others.
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Cheated the system! Magic gave me duplicates for the red/black deck! Very lucky.
Just 5 levels more to get all the "1st tier" dual decks, and 5 levels again for the 5 other decks, wich I already had unlocked 2.
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Another magic update, the daily system is a little too much, 15 wins is like 3-5 game hours, I could only do that on weekends, but it drops a pack and like 5 more cards.
I'm just one level shy of the final New Player Experience reward, the last 5 decks.
Finally decided to combine the 2 Red/Black decks that I had, the cards that I've pulled, a couple of netdecks, and just a few of the wildcards (the "pick a card for your collection" system), to make a budget version of an aproximation of these 2:
https://aetherhub.com/Deck/Public?id=40030https://aetherhub.com/Deck/Public/68508
The deck consist on stealing things from your opponent to then attack or sacrifice them for cards, the 2/2 token zombies, activating "thud", or firing the junk cannon (weak part, but I crafted those, so I have buyers remorse, and sunk cost falacy). As I didn't want to use up all my mythic rare craft materials, I searched and found in my collection a pirate creature that for one more mana than the betrayal sorcery, I can keep using it and demands removal, less strong than the mythic one, but that way I could build another deck later.
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Got to gold without much issue. I should improve my lands, as the dual ones without anything extra have caused me to slowdown enough for agro to run me over, but the strategy seems solid.
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Holy crap, Sekiro is so much fun. The final boss was awesome and took hours but it was worth it to learn how to finally win through not necessarily committing to offense or defense. There was one giant boss in particular that is much different from a combat standpoint and for that reason I didn't enjoy it too much. It didn't help that it had 3 health bars. Other than that, I don't have too many complaints about the game. I may try for the platinum but it would require multiple playthroughs.
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I'm not made to face Mill decks, fuck em, I let them do their whole combo while I go to punch a wall or drink water.
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Lady Butterfly in Sekiro took me way much longer than it probably should have (I think I had to commit around 2 to 3 hours of many tries and learning to properly parry her). However, when I finally took her down it was an amazing feeling. This game is probably going to take me a long time to beat but I'm loving the challenge so far.
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Game rewards you for aggressive play particularly against bosses I think, but it won't let you get away with sloppy aggressive play. Definitely rewarding to get through boss fights
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Both Guardian Ape fights are kinda shit, mostly because they seem to be transplanted Dark Souls bosses in a game that really isn't built for them.
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Yeah the big non human bosses are a bit of a toss up compared to the human sized and humanoid boss fights (which are awesome). I didn't think the guardian ape fights were too bad, but they're definitely built for more of a… Souls sort of fight than a sekiro style of fight
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Loving Sekiro so damn much. Frustrating BUT it can be done. I mean, I fucking sold my Bloodborne copy out of sheer frustration and anger, and yet here I am soldiering on and having a blast.
Last night I killed that blasted ape and I think I woke up all of my neighbours.
Also, gotta say, it's so damned pretty to just gaze at the scenery. Ashina Castle is insanely pretty and well built, same with Mt. Kongo. Awesome stuff.
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First time through Sekiro had some challenging bosses: mainly Ape, Spoiler one, Final and 2nd Genichiro. From the second time onwards however i breezed through all of them with ease as they dont require much else apart from memorization even more so than previous games. The lack of stamina plus multiple revives and very generous health/posture (which in ng+ should be maxed or close to it) is also incredibly helpful, so much so that the unlockable in-game hard modes dont change a lot with how much the game is skewed in your favor.
If Sekiro just like the previous ones relies immensely on the lack of information at first to provide a challenge, it doesnt require that much to learn all of it to get better in much less time.
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I find this game much harder than any Dark Souls or Bloodborne. Though that may be because I'm still acclimating to it. It's just not "slash" and "dash" like before.
Last night I killed that blasted ape and I think I woke up all of my neighbours.
Bosses having a second phase is such a pain in the ass. For my part I figured aggression, dancing around him is the best tactic. But now to figure out the second phase …
Got about 5 Divine Confetti's now. Could go kill one of the two bastards. But if I fail ... I'll be back at 0 confetti's.
I do miss killing bosses with another player.
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- Mark Cerny is still involved
- Backwards compatibility with PS4
- Fast SSD for storage
- Ray tracing