|
Odyssey and Valhalla's minion system got me very excited on the first glance but then they turned out to be pointless and underdeveloped even by Ubisoft standards. In Odyssey it added some spice to the game when I spent time isolating dudes that I'd like to employ so that I can quietly beat them in a non-lethal way, but of course you very quickly realize how pointless this is. Valhalla's pawns are somehow even more pointless, right? You can find dudes to run around the monastery/river raid and it's mostly about cosmetics. Makes me realize that most of collectibles in the game exist specifically to be put on these guys.
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 09:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 08:37 |
|
|
I liked playing dressup with my Simviking but the interface was awful.Cutedge posted:I mean, this is the same company that made the Vikings not take slaves and somewhat implies that Eivor was actually against slavery and played them as the good guys fighting the evil Saxons lol. The slavery entry in the Mirage codex is certainly something too.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 09:42
|
|
|
There's a moment in one of the later additions where Eivor's men capture some guy and Eivor scares him by promising him thralldom. It's obvious Eivor is bluffing but it's very funny that this is probably one of the very few mentions of Viking enforced employment practices outside of Discovery Tour and I dunno, maybe some world events or one of the thousands diaries of Saxon peasants mention it. You're just supposed to understand Eivor is not serious about it cause he's a good guy and wouldn't limit freedom of a fellow human being.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 10:00
|
|
|
ilitarist posted:There's a moment in one of the later additions where Eivor's men capture some guy and Eivor scares him by promising him thralldom. It's obvious Eivor is bluffing but it's very funny that this is probably one of the very few mentions of Viking enforced employment practices outside of Discovery Tour and I dunno, maybe some world events or one of the thousands diaries of Saxon peasants mention it. You're just supposed to understand Eivor is not serious about it cause he's a good guy and wouldn't limit freedom of a fellow human being. also that Odin is mantling Eivor, because once you play Havi (especially Ragnarok) this goes out the window, slavery ahoy!
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 10:06
|
|
|
Kosume Shezaki posted:Online requirement of some sort will be present. Seeing mixed articles between always online or online for installation even with the physical disc. Gonna assume the latter (until we know better), it's becoming more common as games outstrip what you can fit on a single disc and physical media becomes less popular.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 11:54
|
|
|
Sandepande posted:That was Valhalla's best bit. I like my passive skill webs, gimme. I love taking a break from a game and coming back, leveling up, and looking at a gigantic tangled mess of tiny percentage increases without remembering where tf I left off. Even better when you have to zoom out and then  at the rest of the web!ilitarist posted:The mythical DLC for Odyssey takes you to a very different environments and mixes the gameplay enough for me to put it into a Good DLC bin. Every single mythical DLC takes place on a weirdly circular map with janky as hell "jump pads" and hardly any opportunities to parkour around more quickly, total exercise in patience especially if you're playing them right after beating the base game.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 16:12
|
|
|
You could cut Odyssey in half and be left with a much better game as there is a good game in there buried under the grinding and bad content. They just need an editor.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 16:38
|
|
|
Yeah but I feel that that bloat has practically become a hallmark at this point, and they might be afraid to scale down. That said, they said Shadows is Origins sized, which I think was smaller than the sequels (though map size only means so much).
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 16:49
|
|
|
Alchenar posted:Yeah a game with soul would have committed to the idea that your crew are basically with you (maybe in the background) all the time apart from the exceptions where you tell them to hang out in the local tavern while you do some assassin stuff. i like the way its handled in Far Cry 5 where there are people you recuit because they have specific abilities that set them apart from one another, and you can choose whoever you want to bring with you on a given mission or just while out exploring a particular area. they also have actual personalities, which are hit or miss but its certainly better than the silent people who jut sit on your boat in Odyssey and Valhalla Rinkles posted:Yeah but I feel that that bloat has practically become a hallmark at this point, and they might be afraid to scale down. That said, they said Shadows is Origins sized, which I think was smaller than the sequels (though map size only means so much). i thought they already scaled down for Mirage? wasnt it just one city? Earwicker fucked around with this message at 16:53 on May 16, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 16:51
|
|
|
Earwicker posted:i like the way its handled in Far Cry 5 where there are people you recuit because they have specific abilities that set them apart from one another, and you can choose whoever you want to bring with you on a given mission or just while out exploring a particular area. they also have actual personalities, which are hit or miss but its certainly better than the silent people who jut sit on your boat in Odyssey and Valhalla SUPER scaled down. Valhalla took like 60-80 hours to complete the story, somewhere around 160 to 100%. Mirage averages around 11 to 15 hours to complete, 30 to max out. But Mirage also wasn't a full price game on release. Shortly after I finished the tutorial the PSN stat page was telling me I was already 40% done with the game. I've been assuming that's just for this opening arc, but it also leaves me believing the game is going to end on a hilarious anticlimax as Basim randomly remembers being Loki and runs off find the rear end in a top hat that killed his dog, leaving all of his poo poo unfinished. Flytrap fucked around with this message at 17:14 on May 16, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 17:11
|
|
|
Rinkles posted:Yeah but I feel that that bloat has practically become a hallmark at this point, and they might be afraid to scale down. That said, they said Shadows is Origins sized, which I think was smaller than the sequels (though map size only means so much). Origin's map is actually really small comparatively in the sense that there's a huge desert in the middle of it but if you look at the bit that's actually content it's Cyrene, Alexandia, a couple of small towns down the Nile, Memphis and Krokodilopodis, and Siwa. And a few bits in-between. I didn't play Mirage (I might if a good sale appears) but of the complaints against it I don't think the map was really one of them other than that it's segmented Ubisoft style so that nothing matters across borders. That's the thing - if you go back and look at say the Brotherhood Rome map, it's comparatively tiny. But that doesn't matter if you actually use the space and aren't for some reason afraid at the player backtracking over the same location a few times and getting familiar with it.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 17:12
|
|
|
Iinm, with the current Ubistore sale Mirage is effectively only $15 right now, but I just have no interest in it atm.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 17:12
|
|
|
i feel like "size of the game" even expressed in terms of hours-to-completion is a bit deceptive because 50 hours to complete interesting side quests that are fun to play and/or decently written vs. 50 hours to collect several different sets of special objects hidden around the landscape are very different things and the games tend to have somewhat different ratios of these kinds of activities. even though the writing in Valhalla was a step down from the previous games i'd still rather have side activities be things like running into some bizarre situation or funny dialogue and solving some weirdo's problem, rather than chasing down X amount of glowing drifting symbols that somehow represent the concept of a sea shanty Earwicker fucked around with this message at 17:27 on May 16, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 17:24
|
|
|
I didn't read the ad copy, is Loki still the pilot?
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 17:24
|
|
|
Rinkles posted:Iinm, with the current Ubistore sale Mirage is effectively only $15 right now, but I just have no interest in it atm. I played Far Cry 6 when it ubisoft+ was $3 and still feel a little cheated
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 17:58
|
|
|
the thing about FC6 is that its not even a buggy mess or anything, functionally it works a lot better than a lot of Ubisoft games did at release, its got a nice looking world, its got a good actor as the villain, it technically has many of the activities that made that series fun. but its just so phoned in and soulless. it feels almost like ChatGPT were capable of developing and releasing an entire video game and someone just told it "make a typical Far Cry game" and no actual humans were involved at any point i think Ubisoft knew that too because for the earlier games there would be months of hype and a big thread about it here and on reddit, sometimes even a bunch of debate about the subject matter or setting. but with FC6 they were just kinda like... "welp, here's a new Far Cry" out of nowhere and then most discussion of it just kind of fizzled out after a week or two because it was so boring Earwicker fucked around with this message at 18:05 on May 16, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:01
|
|
|
Earwicker posted:i feel like "size of the game" even expressed in terms of hours-to-completion is a bit deceptive because 50 hours to complete interesting side quests that are fun to play and/or decently written vs. 50 hours to collect several different sets of special objects hidden around the landscape are very different things and the games tend to have somewhat different ratios of these kinds of activities. Yeah, it's always misleading when people talk about the size. Origins map isn't significantly smaller than Odyssey but it has more locations that feel unique, and in general it has many more big zones or biomes compared to Odyssey and Valhalla which have more independent separate points of interest. Also Valhalla basically merged all the side quests into the main plot so that actually completing it feels very different from Odyssey. In Odyssey you barely have to interact with the side content to complete the story. Plus it may be very subjective but I find the size of the world part of the immersion. I'll be bored after clearing out 3 caves but I see value in seeing more caves somewhere and not knowing for sure what's there. Almost always there's nothing else in the cave but sometimes there's something special there, and you need all the mundane empty space for the world to feel right. Deakul posted:Every single mythical DLC takes place on a weirdly circular map with janky as hell "jump pads" and hardly any opportunities to parkour around more quickly, total exercise in patience especially if you're playing them right after beating the base game. Every time I boot up Odyssey again I go back to the real world after running around the beautiful Elysium. It does feel more cohesive, so you're probably right. However mythical areas all look stunning and gameplay challenge is refreshing. Valhalla's Forgotten Saga ("we have Hades at home" Free DLC) is the most fun I had with this game.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:08
|
|
|
I hated the tone of FC6. It has what is arguably one of the most amazing intros in gaming and then you play it and you have a dog in a wheelchair and a rocket pack. It veers back and forth between "this is an oppressive hellscape" and "wakka wakka" and I just can't take the whiplash. Pick a lane! linking that intro again because god drat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UaWhlkpT7g
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:11
|
|
|
Yeah FC6 can't decide what it wants to be and it's too bad, I largely enjoyed playing it. Even the open world bullshit didn't bother me as much since I stopped 100%ing every open world game to keep my sanity. Love the animal friends and the wacky weapons and flying car. Hated the super serious, predictably contrived plot. Also, switching bonuses by changing clothes sucked and they obviously ran out of time and just locked you out of 90% of the capital with  "SAM" launchers and invisible (and very visible) walls. 
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:20
|
|
|
ilitarist posted:Plus it may be very subjective but I find the size of the world part of the immersion. I'll be bored after clearing out 3 caves but I see value in seeing more caves somewhere and not knowing for sure what's there. Almost always there's nothing else in the cave but sometimes there's something special there, and you need all the mundane empty space for the world to feel right. I think it's a pretty unpopular point of view but this is very much my stance with map size and feel in these sorts of open world games games. The fact you can see the pharos from giza and the pyramids from siwa and what have you in Origins was just a constant throbbing sore in the otherwise incredible sense of immersion the game gave. Especially when there's a good form of reasonably fast travel (like the ship in Odyssey), the general moment to moment gameplay is fun (like in Odyssey) and the world is pretty and the sounds are nice and the weather is pleasant (ditto), big is good. Our real world is big and I want to feel that in a game world that aims to capture a sense of it. Everything interesting being within 100 feet of the next thing just makes everything feel like it's made of plastic.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:48
|
|
|
I love FC4 and FC5 and FC6 really is just an absolutely airless fart. No substance at all. The gameplay loop is the same and it’s fun enough but somehow they dropped the ball on what makes FC actually fun. Which is crazy because it has beautiful landscapes and some fun characters but it just ends up resulting in this really lukewarm game experience. I kinda have a feeling Mirage plays similarly, though I still intend to play it when it’s cheap enough on sexbox
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:53
|
|
|
Yeah, I had exact the same issue with Origins even if otherwise it might be the best world Ubisoft ever made. The bird made it much worse. Yes, I'm in a desolate desert all alone seeing mirages but I can also see a lighthouse as a constant reminder that really I'm an hour if a slow walk from one of the biggest cities in the world.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 18:54
|
|
|
I'm slightly baffled that they couldn't have solved it somehow; like, turn the draw distance down on the particularly huge objects or something, I'm sure it could be done artistically. Seeing the announcement, happy they're finally doing a main game set in East Asia, but I'm gonna be that person and say I'm kind of offput by the choice of Yasuke. Storytelling-wise it could be pretty cool, but unless they do some weird alt-history Japan there's no getting away from the fact you're going to be playing as a foreigner stacking up a bodycount of probably almost exclusively Japanese people in the literal thousands, killing them in (going by past games) probably extremely violent ways, which just... could have easily been avoided. Not like there's a bounty of male asian heroes in western made games to begin with. Frankly I had the same issue with the whole premise of Ghost of Tsushima and it's the main reason I've never picked it up. The game obfuscates it a bit by making them extra-Mongol feeling I suppose, but in reality the vast majority of the people in the Mongol army sent to attack Japan were (forcibly conscripted) Koreans, and a game where you play as a Japanese dude going around slaughtering Koreans even if only implied is just extremely tonedeaf considering 20th century history.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 19:28
|
|
|
The kind of depressing thing about Ghost of Tsushima is that it proves it's entirely possible to make games that look great (and with a "realistic" style) without being graphically intensive. It sacrifices the things that can be reasonably sacrificed without a big impact (or replaces them with stuff that looks good despite low realism, like the way it does grass), while keeping the important things (like faces, etc) highly detailed. It feels like most AAA games are just made with the mindset of "cram a bunch of poo poo in there and if it runs at 30fps/4k our job is done." Like there's no real attempt to craft a visual style that balances quality with performance from the ground-up. ilitarist posted:Also Valhalla basically merged all the side quests into the main plot so that actually completing it feels very different from Odyssey. In Odyssey you barely have to interact with the side content to complete the story. I actually liked Valhalla's approach, because I'd rather have a bunch of relatively concise "short stories" than a long drawn-out main scenario quest (at least with the kinda lackluster quality of plotting/writing in these games). The time-padding is almost entirely created by doing map collectathon stuff, but if you just stick to a region's main quest they tend to be very direct and to the point - you'll have a quest introducing the region's situation and characters, a couple quests exploring/addressing the problem(s), and a conclusion quest. Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 19:31 on May 16, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 19:28
|
|
|
Assassin's Creed: Shadows: It's Naoe or Never
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 19:40
|
|
|
It's a stretch but: Yasuke On Deez Naoets
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 19:59
|
|
|
Koramei posted:I'm slightly baffled that they couldn't have solved it somehow; like, turn the draw distance down on the particularly huge objects or something, I'm sure it could be done artistically. Again, I think the bird is the issue. You can go to the most remote location, summon the bird and you'll be able to see Alexandria or Memphis, vaguely. And it would be hard to conjure the monuments into existence at the right moment. I've heard somewhere about Zelda Breath of the Wild codifying the open world approach where the world is divided between basins of sorts so that you can't see far beyond the current location. Odyssey and Valhalla seem to be following this idea unlike Origins, you never see too far from your current location and it feels much more natural even considering Odyssey's giant statues.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:02
|
|
|
Ytlaya posted:I actually liked Valhalla's approach, because I'd rather have a bunch of relatively concise "short stories" than a long drawn-out main scenario quest (at least with the kinda lackluster quality of plotting/writing in these games). The time-padding is almost entirely created by doing map collectathon stuff, but if you just stick to a region's main quest they tend to be very direct and to the point - you'll have a quest introducing the region's situation and characters, a couple quests exploring/addressing the problem(s), and a conclusion quest. Even if you don't steer from the Valhalla's main story it's of comparable length to Odyssey if you'd play main story of Odyssey plus every major regional quest the designers really wanted you to play. It feels to me like Ubisoft is overreacting to criticism much more than it seems, and they heard how people were irritated by Origins and Odyssey punishing players who want to just follow the main quest. Origins and Odyssey wanted the player to do some side quests from time to time, but Valhalla made sure you'll do your sidequests whether you want it or not, drat it. It is fascinating for me to think how AAA game with hundreds of people working on it can make mistakes like that look juvenile to an outsider. Because to me it feels like Valhalla could have been a significantly less irritating game if only it marked side stories as such and you'd play them at your in leisure with full understanding they will not affect the main story.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:13
|
|
|
Valhalla's regional questlines were so boring, I defy anyone to remember any of those Anglo-Failsons. The only story arc people even tend to remember is the Wickerman plotline because that at least tried something different with some payoff.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:21
|
|
|
Oh come on, can't you remember the one where local lord felt he's unable to secure his power and he has to rely on Vikings to help?
ilitarist fucked around with this message at 20:26 on May 16, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:23
|
|
|
exquisite tea posted:Valhalla's regional questlines were so boring, I defy anyone to remember any of those Anglo-Failsons. The only story arc people even tend to remember is the Wickerman plotline because that at least tried something different with some payoff. I remember one or two waylaid romances? One where the established couple wants to break up and one where there’s a forbidden romance ?? Yeah they sucked poo poo
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:37
|
|
|
ilitarist posted:Even if you don't steer from the Valhalla's main story it's of comparable length to Odyssey if you'd play main story of Odyssey plus every major regional quest the designers really wanted you to play. It feels to me like Ubisoft is overreacting to criticism much more than it seems, and they heard how people were irritated by Origins and Odyssey punishing players who want to just follow the main quest. Origins and Odyssey wanted the player to do some side quests from time to time, but Valhalla made sure you'll do your sidequests whether you want it or not, drat it. It is fascinating for me to think how AAA game with hundreds of people working on it can make mistakes like that look juvenile to an outsider. Because to me it feels like Valhalla could have been a significantly less irritating game if only it marked side stories as such and you'd play them at your in leisure with full understanding they will not affect the main story. I always marvel that these juggernaut productions manage to come out at all — there’s just sooo much involved — that it isn’t surprising that they’ll make some obvious missteps. There’s got to be so much development momentum once a direction has been settled on, that many of these things can’t be changed even if the people behind them realize them.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:50
|
|
|
MinistryofLard posted:I was going to say that it likely wouldn't be too bad because the trailer had no Isu crap but then I remembered what the Valhalla trailer was, and that game had a lot of Isu crap. nah the game starts after he started doing it, my guess is templars just start arming him. Cutedge posted:I hated the tone of FC6. It has what is arguably one of the most amazing intros in gaming and then you play it and you have a dog in a wheelchair and a rocket pack. It veers back and forth between "this is an oppressive hellscape" and "wakka wakka" and I just can't take the whiplash. Pick a lane! thats kinda far cry since 3. tone all over the place and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. Cutedge posted:I'm guess I'm not completely sure why people are shocked about them tweaking history by altering Yasuke's backstory (allegedly in the game he is on a slave ship that shipwrecks when get gets to Japan which is just... totally wrong). I mean, this is the same company that made the Vikings not take slaves and somewhat implies that Eivor was actually against slavery and played them as the good guys fighting the evil Saxons lol. would japane even care. there are like animes and poo poo that potray him as an utter fucker or as UFO chibi girl. they wont give a gently caress probably. that being said most of the chatter so far is chuds bitching and moaning.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:54
|
|
|
exquisite tea posted:Valhalla's regional questlines were so boring, I defy anyone to remember any of those Anglo-Failsons. The only story arc people even tend to remember is the Wickerman plotline because that at least tried something different with some payoff. I amusingly can't remember details of the wickerman one, but I can remember all the other earlier ones. Early Soma one has the little mystery to uncover the traitor. There's the one that introduces Ivarr and Ceolbert and the later conclusion to that whole thing. Or the ones where you have to uncover the Order guys in Lunden or the other major viking city. The main comparison here is that I feel like the alternative in other games, like Odyssey, is an equally uninteresting but far longer main quest.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:56
|
|
|
exquisite tea posted:Valhalla's regional questlines were so boring, I defy anyone to remember any of those Anglo-Failsons. The only story arc people even tend to remember is the Wickerman plotline because that at least tried something different with some payoff. what sucks is i actually like the idea of that and if they had pushed the vikings as being more hosed up like the slavery and hints at worse poo poo. it could have been interesting. its like a weird version of tyranny, your making a new little colony in occupied country in the second or so wave of the invasion. you have to be the one that keeps the collaborators in line and make deals to take more territory and keep the viking clans from killing each other for plunder or loving up the good life. it would just be the AC version of Tyranny but it would be dope.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 20:58
|
|
|
Ytlaya posted:I amusingly can't remember details of the wickerman one, but I can remember all the other earlier ones. Early Soma one has the little mystery to uncover the traitor. There's the one that introduces Ivarr and Ceolbert and the later conclusion to that whole thing. Or the ones where you have to uncover the Order guys in Lunden or the other major viking city. yeah both have issues. id say i enjoy odyssey more because the combat is alot more fun and challanging through out even with basic soldiers and poo poo and its more fun to gently caress around. vahalla is just too big thats it. the combat gets piss easy when you figure poo poo out.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2024 21:02
|
|
|
Is this the first AC where you play as an actual guy, like from history?
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2024 00:43
|
|
|
Mantis42 posted:Is this the first AC where you play as an actual guy, like from history? Someone listed some examples earlier, Leonidas in Odyssey, Blackbeard in Black Flag multiplayer, and Jack the Ripper in Syndicate. But this is the first time a main character has been a real person from history. But it helps massively that *very little* is actually known about Yasuke other than he was the slave of some Portuguese immigrants and he eventually rose in Oda Nobunaga’s court (I know there’s more im giving the big bullets).
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2024 00:51
|
|
|
Sandwolf posted:Someone listed some examples earlier, Leonidas in Odyssey, Blackbeard in Black Flag multiplayer, and Jack the Ripper in Syndicate. But this is the first time a main character has been a real person from history. But it helps massively that *very little* is actually known about Yasuke other than he was the slave of some Portuguese immigrants and he eventually rose in Oda Nobunaga’s court (I know there’s more im giving the big bullets). That's roughly it to be honest outside of Akechi handing him back to the Jesuits and some potential physical depictions in art. After that, he disappears (it's not even certain what the Jesuits did with him after) so while Yasuke is historical, I would say more blank slate than not. He was only in Nobunaga's service fora bit over a year.
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2024 01:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 08:37 |
|
|
anyways im upset that they put a black guy in japan and ruined the historical accuracy. i wont be playing until i can fix it with a 'white yasuke' mod
|
|
#
?
May 17, 2024 01:36
|
|