Last game you finished, tell us about it

Couchpotato said:

Yep good review @purpleblob but nope it wont convince me to play it. As your review highlighted almost everything I hate about the game, and I'm set in my opinion.

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If @purpleblob; couldn't sell you, I don't know who would. But don't despair, you can still pre-order the new Disco Elysium Vinyls and get the feeling of that game without playing it!

https://blackscreenrecords.com/search?q=disco+elysium

And it's a bargain, 130 EUR for the Origami Edition

Is it just me, or that's completely nuts? Or was the music so good?

Redglyph said:

If @purpleblob; couldn't sell you, I don't know who would. But don't despair, you can still pre-order the new Disco Elysium Vinyls and get the feeling of that game without playing it!

https://blackscreenrecords.com/search?q=disco+elysium

And it's a bargain, 130 EUR for the Origami Edition

Is it just me, or that's completely nuts? Or was the music so good?

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I found the music pretty good but I wouldn't pay 130 EUR for vinyls

Twist(s) of My Life. Best sexy VN I've played by far! True C&C with significantly different paths resulting in 17 different endings. All girls are different physically and by personality - no head-swap clones here! It also gets a big boost by not being hentai, using good quality renders with some simple animation. I finished it for the first time last night playing it straight just picking my natural choices and ended up in a FFM relationship with both girls pregnant - awesome!

I finished Banner Saga three yesterday, and while it started off well, in the end I consider it a huge disappointment. If I ever replay the series, I'll likely omit this game and just play the first two.
So, what did I find to be a letdown? Shortly into this game, you are introduced to a new opponent, one that sullies the battle field with their corpses, and provides a bonus to the enemy, and a detriment to the player. Really not a big deal, if this were a one and done fight, but that isn't the case here. Often you have waves of additional ambushes/reinforcements to deal with, and this is where the harm really plays a huge factor. I found it a head-scratching choice to make, as it simply turns the subsequent fights into an unnecessary slog-fest, and literally the opposite of fun.
The end of the game was a huge disappointment as well. After the prior two games and all the build up, I was expecting something much....bigger. Sigh.

Last night I polished off Fae Tactics, this one was a fun, clever game that really kept me on my toes. One thing I learned is that you need to pay strict attention to the story and try to adhere to a certain path, lest you run into spot where you can really run into trouble. On the whole, the exploration side is a little weak, but the combat and story make up for that in spades.

Unlike Banner Saga the third, this is one game I'll be replaying again. Truly a fun romp, if you enjoy tough, well-nuanced combat with a rich story, give Fae Tactics a try. It's a gem!

Arkham Knight. Worst of the Arkham Batman games. City>Asylum>Origins>>Knight. More content than the previous games but half of it uses the batmobile, which is HORRIBLE! Completely unintuitive controls that cannot be remapped are a recipe for frustration. Also, the characters are given a very bland redesign. In previous games I'd spin the camera around because they looked so cool, now I don't care at all - except for Harley's ass

This morning I wrapped up Operencia: The Stolen Sun. When I first began this game, I quickly fell in love with it. At it's heart, this game is a turn based Grim Rock, with all the goodness that you'd expect. There is a riveting story, which you'll read much of at every camp fire, excellent combat (but keep reading), and stellar exploration. You can be rewarded for going off the beaten path, and looking where perhaps you've no reason for being.
Where this game got annoying for me was with a couple of opponents. I eschew mage types, so at the beginning of the game I made a stalwart warrior, and the next three companions I picked up along the was were also....warriors, with one being an archer. I do not like mages, I avoid them like the plague, but if the game requires them I'll certainly make use of them. There are some golem type monsters that are well defended from any type of melee/missile weapons, and obviously somewhat weaker against mages. This turned many of the battles into dreary, protracted slog-fests that ceased being fun two days ago. Had the game warned me at the beginning that mages were scarce, and perhaps my protagonist should be one, I might have listened but no warning was to be had.
So yeah, I got through the game, but I would have to think long and hard about ever replaying this, or recommending it to others. It left me quite soured, which is a shame, because at the beginning I thought so highly of the game.

Carnifex said:

This morning I wrapped up Operencia: The Stolen Sun. When I first began this game, I quickly fell in love with it. At it's heart, this game is a turn based Grim Rock, with all the goodness that you'd expect. There is a riveting story, which you'll read much of at every camp fire, excellent combat (but keep reading), and stellar exploration. You can be rewarded for going off the beaten path, and looking where perhaps you've no reason for being.
Where this game got annoying for me was with a couple of opponents. I eschew mage types, so at the beginning of the game I made a stalwart warrior, and the next three companions I picked up along the was were also….warriors, with one being an archer. I do not like mages, I avoid them like the plague, but if the game requires them I'll certainly make use of them. There are some golem type monsters that are well defended from any type of melee/missile weapons, and obviously somewhat weaker against mages. This turned many of the battles into dreary, protracted slog-fests that ceased being fun two days ago. Had the game warned me at the beginning that mages were scarce, and perhaps my protagonist should be one, I might have listened but no warning was to be had.
So yeah, I got through the game, but I would have to think long and hard about ever replaying this, or recommending it to others. It left me quite soured, which is a shame, because at the beginning I thought so highly of the game.

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Two things I wanted to note there. The first one:

At it's heart, this game is a turn based Grim Rock, with all the goodness that you'd expect. There is a riveting story

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Grimrock doesn't have any story.
I mean I get what you say, but besides of the perspective the games don't have much in common. I would rather compare it with Lands of Lore, as a "Story Crawler"

Regarding the Warrior / Classes:
There might have been some issues in tactics or how you chose or skilled your group members. I also played a warrior and had no issues at any point - however it also never got easy (which is a good sign, not a bad one, other games like MMX and BT4 have huge balancing issues).
There is actually a thread here where a player was complaining that he can't get past a boss with a mage, considering it much weaker than a Warrior.
He sent me is savegame, I changed some stuff, and did the boss in first try.
This game is really about how you use your team and abilities. So my guess is that at somepoint you missed adapting to the situation.

Aye, that's why I didn't put the comparisons in the same sentence. Grim Rock only lacked a tale, else it would have been flawless. I tried to make the comparison to some game that might be more relevant, rather than one three decades in arears. And yes, the game was still winable, no doubt, but a fight with a golem simply shouldn't last so long, regardless of group makeup. I later picked up a companion that I believe would have made that area much easier, but a player shouldn't be faulted that severely for tailoring a group to their liking. In my opinion, of course.

There was also the combat of Grimrock which made the whole character system obsolete, but wont go further into that again.

Same goes for the "Player should have the freedom to do whatever he wants and still be able to win the game discussion". I got a bit of a different opinion there.

The issue operencia definitely had albeit only at release (and not at steam release) was a missing respec option. Thats fatal for such tight balancing, but gladly had been changed.

Today I finished Heroines of Swords and Spells, and what an excellent trip this was. I started off not being too sure what this game actually was, as the prior two games I had played were very combat-heavy, and this was more of a visual novel, I'd say. Heavy on the text and light on combat, with no respawns that I'm aware of, so you had to do quests to level and progress. Once I understood that and buckled down, the game really opened up!!

This is the first act, and more are supposed to follow. Having said that, I spent almost thirty hours with this game, so for simply one act, it's meaty. You start off as a rogue in a tutorial, and you eventually pick up three companions, all adventuring ladies. You have to progress each of their singular quests to get the main one underway, and while combat isn't the main focus, there is enough of it to keep one very busy. As an rpg-maker type game, it's well worth playing simply for the humour alone, and I would recommend it heartily to those that enjoy that genre.

Bard's Tale 4

I remember when the first screenshots appeared, I really disliked that blue grid and 2D characters looking back at you, like if they sat in a cinema. I watched some let's plays later, but still thought it was a meh game.
Don't know why I picked it up in the end, I guess it was that old school feeling, which appealed to me.
And man, glad I did!

At the beginning I was worried that I would abandon the game pretty soon due to ugly characters and outdated graphics, but after a few hours I forgot about such miniscule things! The atmosphere and gameplay just sucked me in!
Playing BT4 was like eating dessert! I longed to get back home sooner, turn on the comp and do another game session. BT4 reminded me a lot of Wizardry 8 and Arx Fatalis - it really has that old school feeling about it, to the point , when you don't see ugly outdated graphics anymore.

Voice acting was simply great, with all weird british accents and Wizardry 8 kind of party banter, even enemies drop some funny comments in battles. And I'm not even talking about music - it is just fantastic and made 50% up of the game rating! Irish or Scotish folk songs in a manner which reminded me a lot of Clannad.
Apart from storytelling the game is half battles, half puzzles. As soon as I started to feel tired of constant enemy engagement there came a puzzle. I found puzzles quite good and enjoyable compared to some other games, they felt logic and I solved them all myself. Even combat felt like a little puzzle too, though I became quite powerful soon enough and many battles started to feel really easy in the second part of the game. Then I went to Harenhold (DLC area), before the last boss, and combat became challenging again. I played on hard difficulty without using any op skill combinations, except on Harenhold's last boss.

All in all I think balance was fine, it was great fun to discover and try out new skills, though I uncovered them all before the last chapter. So I was afraid that as with many RPGs of late it will become boring if the game will drag on and I will give up, but to my surprise it wasn't too long till the last boss appeared and the game ended. So the length was fine for me - neither too long nor too short, I didn't feel burnt out. Witch unfortunately happens to me a lot with the bunch of latest modern RPGs, like D:OS2, Kingmaker, Wasteland 2, Kingdom Come and some other - they simply are too long, the story starts to drag on, gameplay is filled with unnecessary trashmob fights (well except KCD) and usually I lost my urge to continue, there is always new game around the corner to try it out.

As I understood many disliked BT4 because it was not like the first games of the series, I didn't play them back then, so I had no special expectations.

I'm glad I picked up Bard's Tale 4 despite my concerns, I give it 9/10 (would never have thought so !), a great game, and would like to see more of it in the future. ( though I doubt it will ever happen).

Great:
Characters, voice acting, music, combat and game mechanics, puzzles, fun skills, oldschool feeling and atmosphere.
Good:
Story, but nothing new here, same old "evil wizard about to destroy the world".
Maybe not so good:
Outdated graphics, ugly character models, somewhat easy and repetitive combat after half of the game, some op skills, ingame currency quickly becomes worthless same as elven weapons.

Still have an itch for another turn based RPG dungeon crawler, so I'm off to try out Operencia: The Stolen Sun - I watched some YT videos and it looks like it could be a good game in the same manner as BT4.

Zogar Sag said:

Bard's Tale 4
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Glad you liked it, and I pretty much agree on every aspect. Except that I found the balancing even worse, but on the other hand I never even considered the graphics are bad.

Imho Operencia is even better, but it has a different atmosphere. Also the balancing is much more tight which has left a few players frustrated. Personally I preferred it that way (but of course it costs flexibility, you won't make it with subpar party combinations). As you can swap between all your characters (all premade) and can also freely reskill I didnt see that as an issue. Also the puzzles sometimes need good ideas rather than just strict logic, which can also be challenging if you just don't get the right idea.

After a 256h-long campaign (and a 3-month denial at 99% of the game), I can finally close the Pathfinder: Kingmaker chapter!

Conclusion: avoid to play this game too much in turn-based mode, it's great fun but it's a real time eater! Keep it for special occasions Normally it should be half that long in RTwP, if you take your time. (that must be why I haven't finished D:OS2 yet… yeah, right)

I share the opinion that the end is a bit too heavy on repetitive combats, especially House at the Edge of Time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game that has become one of my few all-time favourites, and it's definitely worth completing it. For information, GOG shows that 9.6% of players made it to the quick ending, and 8.2% only to the longer endings.

Yeah, I already start to feel it, combat seems a lot about rng here (Operencia) - some fights are easy while next with same enemy can turn into defeat because of bad misses and resists.
Puzzles also are in a category of "guess what developer had in mind". Some skills aren't working at all, like turtle and those meant to inflict status on enemy, most of time enemies resist, eve skills with 100% bypassing resistance. I dont know why they are in game then at all, i wasted so much energy for nothing , trying to fear, sleep, stun, charm to the point Im not using those skills anymore.
But I like atmosphere, story and characters so far . Will see how it goes...

Zogar Sag said:

Yeah, I already start to feel it, combat seems a lot about rng here (Operencia) - some fights are easy while next with same enemy can turn into defeat because of bad misses and resists.
Puzzles also are in a category of "guess what developer had in mind". Some skills aren't working at all, like turtle and those meant to inflict status on enemy, most of time enemies resist, eve skills with 100% bypassing resistance. I dont know why they are in game then at all, i wasted so much energy for nothing , trying to fear, sleep, stun, charm to the point Im not using those skills anymore.
But I like atmosphere, story and characters so far . Will see how it goes…

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Probably the wrong place to discuss here, but the combat isn't that random, maybe just the ones which you barely beat, but even there, you can do them pretty reliably - if done right. Also pretty sure turtle is working, though while I had it, it's not one of the main drivers if I remember correctly. Fear Stun, Sleep and so on are important, but you also have to use them correctly and they might not be useful in all fights.
Puzzles also are in a category of "guess what developer had in mind" That only happened to me maybe two or three times, mostly in the second half of the game. The vast majority was fairly logical to me.

In case you got any trouble, I also did a full let's play on hard difficulty. Unfortunately it's in german, but hopefully most is clear anyways.

Redglyph said:

After a 256h-long campaign (and a 3-month denial at 99% of the game), I can finally close the Pathfinder: Kingmaker chapter!

Conclusion: avoid to play this game too much in turn-based mode, it's great fun but it's a real time eater! Keep it for special occasions Normally it should be half that long in RTwP, if you take your time. (that must be why I haven't finished D:OS2 yet… yeah, right)

I share the opinion that the end is a bit too heavy on repetitive combats, especially House at the Edge of Time. And also that when not opting for the "quick ending" at the conclusion of that quest, the additional series of combats may seem too much on top of HatEoT (but if you can, do this extra step to see the alternative endings!).

Overall, I really enjoyed this game that has become one of my few all-time favourites, and it's definitely worth completing it. For information, GOG shows that 9.6% of players made it to the quick ending, and 8.2% only to the longer endings.

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I stopped playing at the House. All those transitions just got boring to me. I would have preferred it if they kept it simple rather than have 5 billion transitions in the same place. Might have sounded good as a concept but was horrible in the fun department for me.

I did enjoy the game a lot, which is why I got the beta for Wrath of the Righteous, but I hope they don't do the same stupid thing otherwise I wouldn't play games from them anymore.

Pladio said:

I stopped playing at the House. All those transitions just got boring to me. I would have preferred it if they kept it simple rather than have 5 billion transitions in the same place. Might have sounded good as a concept but was horrible in the fun department for me.

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I can't say the go and forth between the two realities with the magic lantern was my favourite experience. But you don't have to switch that often in HatEoT after the beginning, so once you're past that point it's OK.

The combats are unforgiving though, with many ability damages (which I hate). In one session, I needed Octavia's help ... only to find her bark at me. A high-spell-resistance Baleful Polymorph, again. I had that once with Linzi and went into much trouble to restore her, which involved eating whiterose oysters - the only way to boost the caster level, and hoping for a 20 roll on the Remove Curse spell But here I just reloaded from the previous save point

Sorry to be thread nanny, but as Kordanor points out, can you try not to give spoilers in this thread, particularly end-game spoilers, at least not in their gory details, and, if you must, can they be in spoilers please.

Fair enough. I put a part in spoiler tags, though I don't believe it's really revealing anything regarding the story. But just to be on the safe side.

It's a thread on game experience anyway: "tell us about it", so readers should expect some degree of disclosure