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[Levi]

Honestly its kind of amazing the IP did well enough to get a Witcher 2.  (which I still need to force myself to play so I can get to the apparently good one)

[AlStar]

The third one is really, really excellent. If you've already bought it, but are putting it off because of Witcher 1 or 2, I'd recommend just skipping them and going straight to 3.

[Levi]

Its tempting, but I already managed to finish the first one last year so I kind of figure I have to do the second one this year.

I'll get to the third one in 2020 maybe.    

[Kagus]

But there's a whole fully-voiced character in 3 that doesn't show up unless you carry over a savegame from 2 after having done it a particular way.

You can't just do that and expect me to be fine with leaving well enough alone!


Anyways, I played a bit of Witcher 3, thought "...man, I should accept the consequences of my actions and just suck it up", and then I did some shit with some pretty serious consequences and just went "...okay, fuck it, this is the 'bad' playthrough", and got a fucking horrible ending with a horrible Geralt because of course I was gonna play it a second time.

And then I thought "there's a lot I didn't quite pick up on, I should play the rest of the series to get a better understanding of Geralt and the other characters", and then I tried to play Witcher 1 because I was gonna do things in order.

Haha no.


But, CDPR is good people... I mean, sure, one of the lead writers just jumped ship for fucking Actiblizz, but they're generally good people. I'm pretty sure.

...Witcher 3 is great though. Beware the balcony.

[nenjin]

The framework of goodness was in Witcher 1 which is why 2 was anticipated. (I also don't doubt that, being a big eastern European flagship title, its fan base is in some ways guaranteed if it meets a certain quality level.)

For me Witcher 1 still does something better than all the other witcher's: the alchemy and preparation phase. Even if potions are unbalanced, it felt worthwhile to do. It gave a ton of context to how you spent your time. In W2 and 3 they kept dialing it back, simplifying it. And it seemed less and less useful with every game (except the times it was damn near mandatory.) I remember in W1 using Blizzard potions and boss fights that were legitimately almost too hard suddenly becoming a blur of "whack whack whack ye dead." But that actually made me sit up and take notice of alchemy, and I spent a lot of time collecting and brewing and what not because it felt fun and right for the game.

In W2 and 3 it becomes almost an optional thing that you don't have to pay attention to unless you really want to maximize/optimize.

Also I kinda miss W1's whackadoo character progression. Each new Witcher game has tried to capture that 'it's not just another skill tree' feeling, but nothing comes close to just how bizarre W1's skill tress were.

So yeah. I think W1 was good enough that it warranted a sequel, because you just kinda knew they were going to make it better, make it feel more cohesive. Even if I feel like each new installment, while being shinier and more fluid, got more pedestrian, it's still a net gain to me.

[Egan_BW]

I've never played a CDPR game that I've actually enjoyed.
(Which is to say I played Witcher 2 and gave up on the first combat because it didn't feel "right" to me.)
^{_{(But I'm still looking forwards to Cyberpunk 2077.)}}

[nenjin]

It took them three games to get it to the point where it more or less played like you expected it to play. W1 was a mess, W2 they didn't have it dialed all the way in, and W3 is enjoyable.

[Iduno]

But, CDPR is good people... I mean, sure, one of the lead writers just jumped ship for fucking Actiblizz, but they're generally good people. I'm pretty sure.

Their response to being called out on sexism, homophobia, and transphobia was that they won't be shy about their politics, so...

edit: worse, that means there still isn't much for usable alternatives to Steam.

[Mephisto]

Totally not Shadow of the Colossus

[itisnotlogical]

Has anybody used the Deadly Reflex mod for Oblivion? It looks like fun once I've beaten the main quests and have nothing left but to mess around, but it also looks like a gigantic pain in the rear both to get working and to remove if I decide I don't like it.

[Frumple]

Iirc the removing part is easy if you have sufficient spare hard drive space. Just make a copy of your pre-mod oblivion install as a backup, delete/uninstall the main stuff if things go wrong and stick the copy in its place. One mod is usually pretty painless, really. The real fustercluck is when you're trying to get a few dozen to work together without everything imploding.

... that said, if you're looking for an extra romp in oblivion you might consider checking out nehrim. It's a total conversion, and though it's been a good few years since I messed with it, I remember it being pretty great. Also recall the installation (and removal) being fairly painless.

[LoSboccacc]

I didn't see Stormworks mentioned yet https://store.steampowered.com/app/573090/Stormworks_Build_and_Rescue/

it's a mix of vehicle building with randomly generated rescue missions. mission go from somewhat stale (there's a lot of carry people around) to watering fires to whatever the workshop can throw at you, changing weather keeps them somewhat fresh but there's not really enough variation. it can be nice and it has some interesting visuals.

the building system varies from pretty simple to quite convoluted, controlled by an in-game option, which I like: allows everyone to get the difficulty they want out of it. the physics of water and such are quite good, the damage model is ok for what it needs (just don't bump into things and you'll keep afloat) but the need for engines to breathe air in the advanced building mode does complicate things a little and makes handling rough weather properly challenging, so I'd suggest that.

overall it's not for everyone but if you liked from the depths for building ship this is more of the same minus the combat.

[Iduno]

I've been getting some entertainment out of Hitman 2 lately.

You walk around, exploring an area, picking up weapons when nobody is looking (or just using the silenced pistol you started with), find ways to separate people, steal their clothes, and then kill off some target in the weirdest way you can manage while disguised. The targets are jerks (bombing civilians, killing slightly more people than you, or being a druglord), or high-ranking employees of jerks, so it's okay.

The complicated deaths are mostly scripted (you need to call a particular character in to the office for a medical treatment that you poison, and say pretty funny scripted things while doing so), but you can manage quite a bit with environmental hazards and your trusty silenced pistol.

The main issue I've had is the game not warning you fast enough if you're doing something wrong. Walk into a hallway, suddenly get shot to death by guards for trespassing. Try again, stop a few feet away, and get a warning that you're not allowed in. In a game where timing is important, having to guess when you need to stop walking to find out if it's okay to go a particular way or not isn't great. At least most of the levels are replayable. They have been introducing one-time missions, which means more frustration from bug-related deaths.

[Mephisto]

Be a space colony man. Ferry people and things around on your space colony vtol thingy.

There's a really neat picture on this oddly-titled Medium article. You'll know it when you see it. Lots of blues and greens.

[Parsely]

Be a space colony man. Ferry people and things around on your space colony vtol thingy.

There's a really neat picture on this oddly-titled Medium article. You'll know it when you see it. Lots of blues and greens.

Oooh that looks unique, thanks for the recommendation.