Last game you finished, tell us about it

[Zerotown]

Finally finished Pillars of Eternity, after 62 hours on 'hard'-mode. I tried to experience most of the content and I think I've come a long way. Although I like the game (especially Act 1), I found it became very easy towards the end of Act 2. Also, the tremendous amount of time spent looking at loading screens had me annoyed a bit. Still: nice game. I look forward to any expansions or sequels.

 

[JDR13]

I just finished The Falcon and The Unicorn DLC for Might and Magic X.

It takes place after you finish the main game and adds two mandatory quests and a few optional sidequests. I wouldn't normally mention finishing a DLC, but TFaTU is more like a small expansion, and you also get the classic Might & Magic certificate of completion when you finish it.

I was disappointed when I didn't get a certificate after finishing M&M X, but it turns out you have to finish the post-game DLC as well.

(Warning: The middle paragraph of the certificate contains plot spoilers.)

 

[DArtagnan]

I just finished The Falcon and The Unicorn DLC for Might and Magic X.

It takes place after you finish the main game and adds two mandatory quests and a few optional sidequests. I wouldn't normally mention finishing a DLC, but TFaTU is more like a small expansion, and you also get the classic Might & Magic certificate of completion when you finish it.

I was disappointed when I didn't get a certificate after finishing M&M X, but it turns out you have to finish the post-game DLC as well.

(Warning: The middle paragraph of the certificate contains plot spoilers.)

How about an opinion?

 

[JDR13]

How about an opinion?

It's pretty much more of the same. One of the new dungeons is pretty cool though. Without saying too much, it's basically a developer level with a lot of easter eggs.

Overall, the DLC is definitely worth playing for anyone who liked M&M X enough to finish it.

 

[DArtagnan]

Thanks

 

[Thrasher]

Thanks, JDR. I bought it last night. Costs about as much as base game did on sale.

 

[Nephologist]

It's pretty much more of the same. One of the new dungeons is pretty cool though. Without saying too much, it's basically a developer level with a lot of easter eggs.

Overall, the DLC is definitely worth playing for anyone who liked M&M X enough to finish it.

I just finished MMX myself a few days ago and am debating whether or not to start the expansion. TBH I'm leaning towards not playing it though. The highlight of MMX for me was the character building. I finished the main quest with my characters around lvl 33, really though their builds were finished around lvl 30. The last few character levels were spent just padding the defensive skills (Arcane Discipline, Dodge, Armor, etc etc.). So unless there any really interesting dungeon designs or gameplay twists in the expansion you would recommend, I may just skip it and move on.

 

[JDR13]

The expansion does throw a few twists at you, but I wouldn't say it's anything you can't live without.

I know you want that certificate though.

 

[Nephologist]

You are right, I do want that certificate.

I think I'm going to wait a bit though. I am a little burnt out on MMX for now.

 

[Thrasher]

I just finished "Might and Magic X: Legacy" and the "Falcon & the Unicorn" expansion.

Quite a wonderful mostly bugfree experience. Although there is tons of combat, it never really seemed to get boring for me for 2 reasons.

(1) MMX is a turn-based combat blobber. You have complete control over your party members, no default attack behavior, weird timing issues, or bad pathing to get in the way. This is why I prefer turn-based to realtime with pause.

(2) A huge variety of enemies, with different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Makes combat seem much less repetitive.

Another big plus is a wide variety of items and properties. I love me some good looting. Opening a chest was always fun.

Finally, the character abilities and spells were diverse, making leveling up a joy. Promotion and grandmaster quests, and having to find trainers added to the variety.

Exploration was rewarding as well. Finding relics in mysterious crypts and dangerous caves was great.

There are many puzzles in this game. Mostly this was good, but some of the solutions seemed impossible to figure out without a guide.

In general an excellent game, and highly recommended.

 

[Moriendor]

Just finished the first Mass Effect for the first time. It was quite a rollercoaster ride. Started out way down low with massive disappointment but got better towards the mid and end game. Luckily it was only 17 hours long (I skipped most of the optional assignments). I played this with the excellent HD texture mod which is highly recommended.
My Shepard was an Infiltrator and ended up around level 35.

I'm guessing that in 2015 everything has been said and done about this 2007 game so I'll keep it in bullet point format.

The Good:
- Commander Shepard is an interesting and straightforward character to play
- Attachment to crew and squad members
- The choices throughout the game are interesting (though there should be more smaller choices in addition to the big decisions you have to make throughout the game)
- The story is OK for a video game and after a very slow start motivates you to keep going
- The game is rather short

The Bad & Ugly:
- Very consolish feel to everything (UI etc.) - Took quite a bit of manual tweaking and editing config files to make it feel more like a PC game.
- No sense of a real game world but you just visit set pieces
- Empty and barren levels (looks more like a 1997 game than a 2007 one and that is WITH the excellent HD texture mod!)
- Gameplay sucks - It's both a poor shooter and a mediocre RPG
- Braindead squad member AI (they don't take cover or retreat or anything)
- Even more braindead enemy AI (combat seems to be very line of sight dependent so if an enemy is behind cover but parts of it are sticking out you can safely kill the enemy from a distance… they won't ever retreat further into cover or leave cover to attack… you can just pound on them till dead)
- Stupid save system that does not let you save when enemies are "nearby". The game has a very loose definition of "nearby". It also destroys immersion and tension/excitement since you will always know that enemies can't be far if you press 'F5' and it won't let you save.
- Horrible vehicle controls/gameplay - Luckily don't have to use it often (I skipped most optional content after I found out how crappy it was)
- Story has a few cheesy moments and some parts that don't make much sense
- Alien races are either an almost straight rip from Star Wars or look like walking genitalia
- Voice-overs of some alien races are…. odd and sound like an extremely low budget production.
- Very slow start into the story
- Non-consequential looping dialogue options (IMO if you select a dialog option it should be "consumed on use" and to avoid that the player misses anything important any genuinely important info should go to your journal … it ruins immersion though if you can converse with someone in neverending loops).

After playing part 1, I definitely don't get why this series was hyped as much and why this game's PC version has a Metacritic score of 89. That's insanely overrated in my opinion. Try a 7/10 or low 70-ish rating using MC's system.

​

[FONT=&quot]I'm now playing part 2 and it's looking more promising from the start but it once again took a lot of tweaking to make it feel less consolized and the story opening/premise is a little strange so far. A lot better than the slow beginning of part 1 though so I'm looking forward to continuing my investigations. The shooter mechanics also seem to be improved. I hope the same goes for RPG elements and AI. Wish me luck! [/FONT]​

 

[Fnord]

The Dark Eye - Demonicon
Demonicon is set in the now rather famous The Dark Eye setting, a setting that I don't think need much introduction these days, at least not among RPG lovers.

Demonicon is a game that I think will frustrate a lot of people. It's an ARPG with a rather weak combat system. And there is a lot of combat going on in this game (as is to be expected from an ARPG). Where the game instead shines is its writing & story. Apart from a rather cringe-worthy incest subplot (it makes sense in the context of the story, but it could easily have been left out and it), the story is quite interesting. It's hard to really comment on it without spoiling anything, as a lot of what's actually interesting about it is not supposed to be known right from the get-go.
And here is the games first major problem. It starts with a dungeon, which showcases the bland combat system, but it's not able to showcase much of the story. It takes a little while before that gets going (but without the buildup the story would have been a lot worse).
The second problem is how easily abused certain abilities are, which makes combat a cakewalk. While this might be seen as a bit of a blessing, it also makes combat incredibly repetitive.

The voice acting might not be quite as good as in something like Mass Effect, but it's far better than I would have expected from a game like this. It's actually quite good, and better than many games with far larger budgets. This helps the surprisingly strong writing shine.

For an ARPG, the game also offers a lot of "out of combat" skills. If these are actually a worthwhile investment is another question altogether. While they can net you some extra EXP along the way, the end result from most of these out of combat skills is less than spectacular. Still, they give you something more to do than just hack away at enemies.

Overall though, I feel that the game was worth my time. It was flawed, but the story kept me pushing through the boring parts.

 

[Dajjer]

Just finished the first Mass Effect for the first time. It was quite a rollercoaster ride. Started out way down low with massive disappointment but got better towards the mid and end game. . . . . . .

This is my second restart (on ME 1) and I'm getting bogged down in the early end game. It's fun but in spite of its wonderful sci fi setting, the game seems to be kinda like a grinder. Lately I've been playing some HOGs instead of playing Mass Effect. I think I'm on my fourth HOG (they're really short).

There is no doubt I will finish the game but it is going to take awhile.

And of course I want to be with all the guys and gals when Witcher 3, is released today/tomorrow . . . so there's that . . . .

 

[JDR13]

Lately I've been playing some HOGs instead of playing Mass Effect. I think I'm on my fourth HOG (they're really short).

Ok, I'll bite. What's a HOG?

Mass Effect 1 is the best part of that trilogy imho. If you guys didn't enjoy it much, it's unlikely that ME 2 or 3 is going to change your opinion of the series.

I guess it depends what you value though. The NPCs are more fleshed out in the latter games, but the combat is even more grindy and predictable than in ME1.

 

[Dajjer]

HOG = Hidden Object games

Always casual gaming fare and the good ones take anywhere from 3 to 10 hours to complete. Basically they are the adult version of Where's Waldo, but with various types of objects instead, and add a mixture of adventure game type puzzles with a usually serviceable-at-best story. A lot of times you can find them in bundles and unless you go to the Big Fish web site, the games are anywhere from 1 to 10 bucks.

 

[DArtagnan]

@Moriendor

IMO, ME is definitely the best in terms of story/atmosphere. Some people prefer the gameplay in ME2-3 - but I found them repetitive and overly streamlined, where ME at least attempted some variation here and there.

If the atmosphere and setting didn't immerse you more, I think that's the primary issue. The gameplay was never really the good part of the ME series.

Not to me, anyway.

 

[MrMuse]

Briefly, Pillars of Eternity, and I agree with most of what wolfing said. If you completed every sub quest you came across then you would level cap far too early and the only two serious challenges without choosing the hardest difficulty were Raedric (unless you just left him for later rather than going straight there) and the Adra Dragon - which was tough even with a certain advantage that the game allows you if you make the right choices. Also, I think they took a bit of a pot-shot at the Steam achievements feature by making 'kickstarter backer' an achievement and then making some of the rest highly unlikely for anyone to even attempt especially given the difficulty spikes of those two battles. I also feel that they could have made far better use of your keep and it's improvements which was a nice, but greatly underused, feature. *cough* stolen from DA:O *cough*

 

[wiretripped]

Just finished XCOM:EW, and I have to say, what an awesome game. It pretty much hooked me from the beginning... It started to drag a little near the end, because I was basically seeing the same levels again, but I loved it regardless.
A sequel in the same vein would be an insta-buy.

I loved the "human touch" the soldiers had, names/nicknames/..., but wouldn't have minded a little more of that (like traits/perks that play a role in combat). I found myself roleplaying my soldiers, and awarding medals after impressive feats in missions. I wouldn't have minded more diverse aliens (I felt there was only a small amount), more diverse levels (basically it's just city or forest levels), more equipment, and well more of everything. Near the end there was nothing left to do (I had finished all science projects like 3/4 of the way in already).

Good game though, solid 8 in my book.

Now onto Expeditions: Conquistador.

 

[DArtagnan]

I'd love to play X-Com again, but I really need more story or a lot of new missions.

 

[wiretripped]

I'd love to play X-Com again, but I really need more story or a lot of new missions.

Yes, I would say it's replayability is close to zero. The game unlocks some second wave options upon finishing it, but I would be surprised if they threw the formula around heavily enough to warrant another playthrough. I finished this campaign with a few second wave options to make my soldiers a little interesting, but even though I loved it, I don't see myself replaying it.