Category: RPG
I’ll just leave this here….
Xcom: Enemy Unknown demo ruminations
Woah. The new version of Xcom is coming REAL fast. When it was announced, I thought we had a year or so before it was spewed out across all us gamers. I was shocked to see the demo out last week and (nearly) immediately gave it a go. I can’t make any type of post about a resurgence game like this without waxing on and on about how I feel about the old versions. Needless to say, emotions run strong with this series. People loved it when it came out for a lot of reasons: the art, the sound, the affiliation with your kill team (that’s really all your guys were) as they got stronger and sometimes get the dirt nap and you cried softly in your dorm room. While I liked Xcom, I think it was brilliant but I never wanted to go back to it once I played through a couple times, and never played the Terror from the Deep version. The version I did get into and will still bust out form time to time is Xcom Apocalypse. This was largely panned when it came out and definitely has it’s quirks, but the core gameplay– i.e.: the combat, has the ability to go real time and THIS is where Xcom Apocalypse shines. You remember those hour long bug hunts trying to find that one last critter in turn based mode in the original Xcome? In Apocalypse, you can send off a couple guys and find that bug without clicking through your whole team. Whats more, Apocalypse’s environments, still all sprites mind you, were the most 3D I’ve ever seen in a game AND almost fully destructible. While Jagged Alliance 2 is a superior game, Apocalypse’s environments vastly surpassed JA’s always on the first floor style of play.
With all that history with the game, I was looking at the demo through the Apocalypse glasses and it didn’t disappoint. While the first mission is 100% scripted, the second allows you to try out all the options for your kill team during turns. One of the differences in the new Xcom from the old games (and Jagged Alliance) is that you don’t have action points that get spent by small pieces of actions: your squaddies are allowed to take two actions during their turn, either Move or Fire essentially (there is Overwatch and ‘Hull down’ mode” that you can choose). This means if you are creeping up on an area of the map as players are wont to do, you have to take an entire move action to just move up a tiny bit. At first I wasn’t too sure about this as precision movement is key in these games due to the need to be in cover all the time. However, going back to Apocalypse, as much as I love the combat portion of the game, the original Xcom had some really long bug hunt missions. These are missions where a single worm or alien is hiding in a closet somewhere on a 4-5 story space ship and you have to walk your team through the entire map to find it and kill it. Since it’s much more important not to get your guys killed, this type of hunt is always slow as fuck so you don’t get bushwhacked. The two turn action limit will make things go quicker.
As for aesthetics, the game looks eggcellente good, and should because it’s using the Unreal Engine. The way Firaxis has handled the visuals of the Xcom base is amazing and the squaddies look superb (again, this is a turn based strategy game so aesthetics are secondary to everything else). You get a choice in the game whether to help out the USA or China and I chose China in order to see if they had some localized environments and YES, there were a bunch of signs and stuff in Chinese, so you could definitely tell on the ground where you were at. If you think about it, that’s a LOT of content for the developers to make. A little touch that the original Xcom didn’t have at all.
The aliens that I saw looked good and definitely had some soul. This is a FAR cry from the very stupid looking aliens from Xcom Apocalypse (a flying skellington and a blue ice beast or a running butt).
The interface– well this is going to be a console game as well as PC and we can see some problems arising for the PC player due to that choice. While the base is amazing graphically, I was wondering how the fuck you were supposed to move from room to room and how to get to where there is an alert? Hello? Can’t I just click the room I want with my mouse? I don’t even know what I pressed to get to the ‘alert’ room: either enter or space or something. This was annoying.
During missions, the firing interface, while pretty cool looking, is completely geared towards a console experience. Your Squaddie goes into firing mode by pressing the space bar, then you scroll vertically through some options (using the mouse for this sucks) and then how do you select the option and execute? You press the ENTER key? What the hell is that shit?! I’d like to just use my mouse please and SELECT the option I want. Hotkey will make this moot however, so this is just a minor annoyance all round and will probably be just something to get used to.
Overall: Yes. While the consolitis infecting the interface is annoying, and the tactical combat is different from what I expected in terms of squaddie control, this game has VAST potential for goodness. We haven’t seen an A-class turn based strategy game for a very, very long time so I will be buying this as soon as it hits the streets. It’s alien depths must be plunged deeply. Plus I was able to make the most bad-ass blaxploitation-style character I have ever been able to do in a video game. The white and asian toons look good, but the black ones look simply amazing.
10 Hardcore Tips and Tricks for Torchlight 2 (levels 1-20)
A list a list a LIST!!! Torchlight 2 is good fun. Torchlight hardcore is crazy tense awesome fun. We’ve played hardcore since the release (and many of us in the beta back in May got on the Hardcore train) and lordy we have learned some harsh lessons and want to impart them to YOU dear reader (and Matt and Steve who are waiting for the Mac version). By Hardcore, I mean hardcore Elite– so the most damage to your character, the most hit points on monsters and whatever nastiness Runic wanted to throw deep inside the Elite hole. We started with a blind run (well, those of us not in the beta) so we haven’t seen most of the game and every piece of content has had to be EARNED with hardcore deaths (sometimes piles of them). Only one of us has gotten beyond level 20 (sensless) and they died shortly after while heading back and farming ACT 1 (!?). Here’s stuff to help you get to level 20. It’s not easy but with these tips and some conservative play, you may yet survive.
- Choose your class carefully for Hardcore. The Berserker has the most exposure to damage and the most risk/reward when he goes berserk, so we’ve found that that class takes the dirt nap more than the others. The Engineer heal bot helps a lot– but a lot LESS than you think early levels. The Embermage and Wastlander are ranged characters, so they get to sit back and shoot stuff from a somewhat safe distance.
- Defense > Offense – There’s quite a bit of importance in not dying in hardcore because, well, that’s it. So Defense is a core focus. Vitality should be the number one stat increased. While this is tough to do when you know your damage deal out isn’t very high, it’s much better to have armor and health than to take down those Ratlings a second or two faster. While a good offense usually trumps a good defense, you can worry about doing tons of damage later.
- Make sure your elemental armor is up to par. You can likely ignore elemental damage at lower difficulties, but, at Elite, if you have a weak area, say fire, you will get burned to the ground. Make sure you are using your elemental ember specks in your armor sockets whenever you find them. Once the gem orcs unlock, upgrade your gems when you find the larger types. It makes a huge difference.
- Remember to RUN AWAY. There are points where your character (or group of characters) cannot possibly survive a fight. For example, I woke up the lightning boss in Skull Hollow and ran directly into the “Chest Trap Valley.” I thought he was far enough away to lose aggro from Mr. Lightning and popped the chest. As the swarm of skellingtons rose out of the ground, I saw him up on the ridge ready to fire lightning down. And he did. Good bye level 5 Wastelander!
- Use your rare specks. As soon as I pick up a rare speck, I drop it in a socket. Don’t save these, use them! You will find FAR better gems later in the game.
- Shared Stash is your friend. About the only way to “advance” when your hardcore character dies is to make sure choice (and low level) items are in the Shared Stash for your next character. Make sure you fill your stash when going up against bosses or phase beast challenges. This is called “Making your Piece.”
- Play as a group! TL2 is fun alone but Hardcore is simply meant to be played as a group. The group dynamic, from being able to have a bunch of heal bots around to going crazy with Embermages increasing elemental damage or freezing enemies so they can be pummeled, just makes the path to level 20 easier. Sometimes due to your lack of elemental armor, you have to sit back in some fights. While in a group, you will still get experience in the same area. This makes it harder on the other characters (with the increases in damage and enemy hitpoints) but can help in a pinch.
- Phase Beast Challenges are deadly. Be very careful when entering the portal from a murdalized Phase beast–these are no joke.
- Basic monsters to watch out for: Pirate Ghosts with Pistols, Skellington Archers, Chest Ghosts (their first attack is a doozy), Infernal Skellingtons (fast runners with fire damage)
- Bosses to Watch for: One Eyed Willy will punch your ticket – I’ve seen many characters bite it in the One Eye Willy quest because they go in overconfident. There is a potential Teleporting Boss Stormbeornennnenen in the beast highlands that is brutal if you don’t have a lot of armor, but the worst is the Wraith Boss in the Bone Dungeon (Modox) that summons ghost bats. He slows you down and then you get swarmed by the bats and put inside the ground right quick. Soloing this guy at low levels is near impossible with a close combat character and even as a group, it’s a tough fight early on. Last but not least, prepare for death the first time you fight General Grell if you are lower than level 17-18.
So that’s the 10. Once you hit the Winter area things get a lot more difficult, especially with elemental damage (obviously ICE armor should be your first priority). Get it up to at least 80 if possible as a ranged character– over 100 for a melee type is really going to make it easier not to be hurt so bad you can’t live.
Looking for tips after level 20? Here you go!
Torchlight 2: a view from the hardcore ground
Hardcore elite has taken it’s toll! I had a level 11 and level 9 embermage go down for the count last night, one during a phase beast challenge (tough stuff!) and once in the Grell dungeon to one of those estherian(sp) spheres (and when I was far too low level to be in there). Here are some pictures of the group from the first night.
Skyrim: Why kill the dragons!?
Spoilers.
I’m running around Whiterun. I’m cash strapped because I refuse to sell my refuse or just can’t take the time between random quests. I start wandering around outside of a city and bam– dragon– a representation of a ~500 gold pieces in flying lizard form. Kill: loot the bones and scales, sell. Repeat. With 10 I can buy a house. With 20 I can buy a bigger house! That said, why would I want to end the dragon attacks? Why would I not want to wander Skyrim ad infinitum to murdalize the 500 gold piece flying geckos for fun and profit?
These things ran through my head while moving through the main quest– obviously there is a large battle with a dragon of some kind that seems like the end of the game (it’s not) and I thought: do I really want to kill off all these flying cash cows? What if there’s something from the Dawnguard expansion that I really want to buy but I can’t afford– I won’t be able to just wander around and take some dragons down for a quick couple thousand gold (BTW– where is the Creeper??). Now sometimes there aren’t dragons around, so it’s not really a rapid path to cash in Skyrim, but then again–whenever you hear that far off dragon sound, you know 500 gold is coming your way no problem.
And what have the dragons done that’s so bad? They just seem to fly around the wastes and burn hunters or groups of imperials/stormcloaks/Thalmor escorting prisoners. They don’t seem to attack any inhabited areas or burn any towns to the ground. Could it be that they really aren’t that bad? Could it be that the World Eater really isn’t that hungry?
That said, Skyrim, as we all know, is pretty awesome. There are just so many places in the game, so many sub-plots and guilds and NPC’s with little adventure hooks it’s madness. I remember stuff like: oh that’s from last year (as in 2011) when I was a were wolf. Now I took a long break, mostly due to Saints Row 3 and Shogun Total War 2, but getting back to Skyrim has been fawesome. I delved into the mega dungeon (as part of the main quest) and man they really went to town. While areas certainly are never maze-like, they certainly went TEXAS BIG on everything, even underground.
My build, predictably, is pure shit, just do exactly the opposite of this and you will do well. In the Elder Scrolls games, I always start with a Dark Elf and then do something OTHER than what the Dark Elves are good at– and too much of everything without a focus on any one skill. That is, I suck at destruction magic and I decided to go 2-handed instead of 1 -handed for the weapons after going one handed + shield for awhile, as well as heavy armor topped off with a dose of archery and a lot of Alchemy. Alchemy has it’s place in the ES series, but it NEEDS SOME LOVE. Healing potions get used a lot but it seems so artificial to have to go into inventory to pop a potion (while the game is paused) while other means (spells and scrolls) you actually have to cast on yourself to get to work in real time. Why I continue to keep going heavy Alchemy is beyond me…
Torchlight 2 Elite Hardcore Blind Run – Sept 20-21
Let’s get a list of people up for the Elite hardcore blind run (as in, hardest difficulty, one life, never played the game before) when TL2 comes out next week. As far as I know, it’s max 6 players per game, so if we have more than 6 (unlikely!) we can split into two groups. The only rule is that you cannot play the game at all before your hardcore character bites it (and they will bite it!).
Now– some of us that got to play the beta in May will effectively be cheating until the first big boss (which only one person got past). To make it fair, we will tell you when one of the three points of likely death are about to happen. There’s one main quest point, one optional quest area and, of course, the first real difficult boss. That should even it out a bit.
So if you are up for it, reply to this post and we’ll try to get things rolling about 7-8PM Central time on the 20th (unless stuff is out at midnight…).
DND- interesting read on saving the license
While I haven’t played D&D for decades (pathfinder, well, a year or so ago), I still follow the unfolding drama of 3rd to Pathfinder to 4th to ??? from time to time and came across this:
http://kingsminis.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-i-would-save-dnd-license-brain-dump.html
Since I haven’t played D&D for a long long time, I’m not even sure what people that play it want to get out of it, and especially if my demographic is even relevant at all to the brand. Certainly there is a faction of players my age that have gone directly back to the Basic/Expert set (really the first really viable ruleset for the game) or enhanced this with subsequent publications to keep it a ‘living’ game (i.e. Labyrinth Lord, or Lamentations of the Flame Princess, etc), and there’s a faction of players that have gone off to the more WOW-like 4th edition– and the rest who have abandoned the dungeon crawlers to get to the more narrative RPG’s (let’s face it, hacking through 66 Gnolls when not in a computer game is pretty bloody tedious for those over the age of 13) if we play at all.
Signed up for the Atomic Robo RPG Beta
Very strange thing to do– signing up for a the beta of a PnP RPG– but here we are. D&D 5 is doing it, and it probably would have helped a lot to have Exalted open tested a bit more than it was back in the day to avoid the 2/7 filter (ideally including John Chung). This is really a test of Fate Core 3 and how well it does the overpowered, and here’s what I’m hoping it does:
- Coalescing of the good stuff from the various Fate builds around – this is almost a given to happen
- The Marvel Superheroes pass-the-hat iniative system – this is just too brilliant NOT to include in FATE core.
- Lots of stuff from ‘Strange’ FATE– Power Tiers, the replacing of a FUDGE die with a D6 based on Tier difference, and building special skills and super powers out of skill Trappings– but of course, less complicated than Kerberos club SEEMS to be. It’s tough to get your head around some of the ways you use your powers– but the interaction potential is amazing (Take the concept of a conflict between NPC’s Stony Joe vs the One Man Army for example).
- Streamlined rule presentation – like the excellent Bulldogs rulebook– this really boils FATE down in an easy to understand and execute way. It just would not do supers very well (but wasn’t meant to)
- Better stuff with Mooks/Extras/Minions.
- Fewer Aspects per character/NPC. Aspects are a core piece of FATE, but most of the versions have 10 aspects per character–that’s a LOT of aspects for the GM to remember and invoke and compel. I think 5-7 is a fine number. Tying them to skills is a little boring but works for a few here and there. With environmental aspects on top of the character ones, it gets a bit crazy.
Anyway, if they have another round of beta action, it should be in the next month or so.
Warhammer Quest coming for the iDevices
This is an odd one, but looks promising. The creator of Hunters and Hunters 2 is taking a crack and the seminal Games Workshop dungeon delver: Warhammer Quest. While I never got into this when it was out, I heard good things, so if they can pull it off, it should be solid stuff.
In terms of the board games, I infinitely prefer the dungeon crawlers like Descent or Advanced Heroquest where the game master is actively trying to KILL OFF the other players as it turns what really could be just D&D into a solid set of boardgame dynamics. Warhammer Quest, as I understand it, was not a game where the GM was trying to take out the players, but more of a traditional Dungeon Master role.
As for the idevice games, there are few and far between that are actually good– the system being absolutely swamped with the free-to-play/buy-my-stupid-in-game-shit games. There are a few gems that I consistently play: Tigris and Euphrates is pure gold and I am still trying to win Elder Sign with any frequency. I picked up La Havre, and while a great board game, on the iphone, the screen is far to small for the game to be playable.