General Gaming Megathread: What are you playing?

I am not against summoning dudes, but I didn't see the Summon mark there, I also haven't joined the league because I rushed to Vicar Amelia to start the DLC so I haven't explored the Woods to find bucket head yet.

 

Finished Yakuza 0 again. Now re-finishing Kiwami 1. Tiger Drop still OP.

This accurately sums up the DLC. From videos I've seen, most people favor high health builds to increase room for mistakes which sucked for me in my first run with a glass cannon that mained Ludwig's Holy Blade (I went for the cheap route ).

All I can say is persevere on and eventually, you'll get into the zone for Old Hunters glass cannon combat (unless you went for an OP build). What I do remember is farming the Slime Scholars of the Lecture Building when I ran out of Blood Echoes during the DLC.

 

So I fibnally defeated Maria and it didn't take me so long after a good rest from it, didn't even need summons or anything I am not sure if she is considered easy but it felt really good..... Then spent Hour and a half trying to beat the Laurence Beast, used up my insight summoning Valdr to help me, got to the last phase rather consistently but in the end couldn't beat it, worse yet, anytime I tried to fight it without a companion I couldn't even get him to phase 2, which really dampened my mood.... which put me right at home on the Fishing Hamlet, managed to get through it pretty fast and started the fight with Orphan of Kos, it doesn't seem that hard but then again I couldn't even get him to half health in my three tries but I was already tired so I guess I'll leave it for tomorrow.

Got any tips on how to beat the Laurence beast and the Orphan of Kos?

 

What I do recall is following a guide on increasing fire resistances for the lava and a summon. I think I used visceral attacks in the earlier phases but I recall they become useless at the final phase.

This guy... this freaking guy.

But in seriousness, the earlier phases have attacks that are open to gun staggers for visceral attacks (timing's tricky as you can't afford to get hit if you are a glass cannon like I was).

Later on, it's a test of reflexes. The risk becomes greater and it gets even more range with its attacks. It took me 13 hours (not joking here) to finally put the Orphan down (don't take that out of context). All I recall was getting into the zone with the adrenaline rushing and then, I managed to beat the Orphan without with barely any Blood Vials left.

 

Laurence is fucking annoying. He requires way too much patience to get around his lava bullshit in later phases. Orphan is tough too but feels more fair to me. Learn Orphan's attack patterns, learn to play within their ranges. Be patient. Orphan's only real issue in my opinion is that a lot of his wind ups look too similar so you have to be ready for two attacks sometimes.

 

Just finished Half-Life 2: Episode One for the first time in 10+ years (Posted about my experience with Black Mesa and base HL2 in the general thread for whatever reason) and wow, I actually enjoyed that way more than I was expecting, a lot lot more. Better than base HL2 I'd say barring the obvious shortness. One of the best parts of the Half-Life games is the escalation pacing they provide. At Black Mesa, things start off survival drama/horror-ish, then when the US Army arrives and the mid-game becomes a survivalist action movie, then the late-game is all-out war, total chaos and ends with you killing a cosmic god in another dimension. HL2 has similar, with you beginning as a civilian in a totalitarian nightmare, then a fugitive taking potshots at Civil Protection and fleeing through sewers and canals, then you're on a mission to make a surgical strike on a concentration camp which turns into an all out siege preparing you for the return to City-17 under total uprising as you take down chokepoints and bring the resistance closer to the alien citadel of their control.

I'd expected since Episode One is a direct continuation of the chaos that Hl2 ends on and due to its brevity it wouldn't have that, but it does in its own way. Reaching the Citadel reactor is a creepy and tense experience, and fighting through the pitch black car tunnels with less than 8 shots of shotgun ammo and no crowbar puts you on the backfoot and disarms you without it feeling cheap at all in many sequels that strip you of your previous game's late stage power, and then it builds up again as you chaotically escape City-17.

What's really great about Episode One, is Alyx. She's a fun character in HL2 but is basically an afterthought to the experience. Episode One puts her in a central role and tbh I have not seen a game handle an NPC follower/escort, ESPECIALLY an FPS, as well as Alyx. She feels like she has legitimate purpose and function alongside Gordon and in some of those earlier resource-scare levels she saved my ass, but she still feels like she needs you as much as you need her. It's a great symbiosis.

Writing wise she's great as well. She's a self-assured and badass girl but she wonderfully avoids the headache inducing "Strong woman" archetype perfected by Joss Whedon that you see so much. She feels like a real person. She cracks jokes and fights competently, but she's also scared shitless by stuff that would be terrifying to a person in that situation, and even stuff like switching off your flashlight in the pitch-black tunnells she gets nervous and a little bit panicked under pressure. She also avoids the annoying trope-y female character writing in that whilst she can handle herself without Gordon and helps him considerably in a fight, she is legitimately appreciative and in awe at your actions as a hyper-competent vidya protagonist, poorer writing would have her making jokes at Gordon's expense or somehow trying to say that she is "better" than Gordon. I'd list some examples of characters that do just that, but there are just too many.

Instead she feels like an actual person and your mutual partner in survival, and it's achieved in less than a couple hours. Weirdly, the budding 'romance' between her and Gordon feels shockingly natural despite the fact that Gordon is a silent protagonist. I always remembered it as being really weird and out of place but playing through now, I actually get it.

Really looking forward to Episode Two.

 

I did it, I felled Laurence AND Orphan of Kohs. I am officialy a true gamer.
Laurence was fucking annoying as shit, I killed it by the skin of my teeth, on my last insight, no blood vials, no bullets left I connected the last hit just right.

Orphan of Kohs, while challenging felt much more fair and fun, and well not as hard dare I say? I beat it within one hour, it felt really great. Now I can move on to another game.

 

Kos is a great fight. Laurence feels kinda cheap. Good job though.

 

I beat Lawrence and Ludwig first try but Orphan of Kos to this day is the hardest boss fight I've ever done. The worst part is that the second time I fought him, I got him so close to death you literally couldn't see the red on his health bar and then he suddenly swiped me and got me. I was so angry I threw my controller and took a photo with my phone. I wish I could find it but it was several years back. It was all blurry and shit lmfao

After that I got tilted and just kept getting worse and worse. In the end I had to summon. Sucks but it Orphan is a sick fight.

 

Congrats. I agree that Lawrence is a lot cheaper as a boss (was more frustrated than tense).

The Orphan is still the hardest boss I have ever faced (2nd would be the secret boss from the Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC) but it's still a great experience for me. It's one of the times I felt like I earned the victory by playing perfectly and without cheesing. It felt like my fingers glided across the controller with buttons being pressed as soon as the thought to react came through. The victory high was fantastic.

 

I've been playing Battletech (2018) again with the Roguetech mod installed. Been knocking about in Steiner space gathering scrap and C-bills to ensure my company can pay the bills and grow to take on larger contracts in the future. Surely there would be some who would deride me for being a Steiner stooge, submitting myself to paper generals and merchant lords who do not have even the most basic grasp of military strategy and tactics. To them I say, their assessment of the Commonwealth is entirely accurate, but Steiner checks don't bounce.

 

My Stream archive of me beating both bosses.

Time stamp for the last runs of each:

Laurence - 1:09:40 (Volume warning when I connect the last hit)

Orphan of Kohs - 2:09:40

 

I just finished Half-Life 2: Episode 2 for the first time in ten years. I found it to be a rather different experience to HL2 and Episode One. The story for Episode Two overall is strong, I found the motivation for reaching White Forest similar to reaching the Lambda Complex in terms of it being a safe-haven where you can fix everything from getting worse and save the day by closing a portal. An intentional throwback what with the plot element of the missile/satellite intended to close the dimensional rift, even using the same network that was at Black Mesa. I liked all of Episode Two but the first section/arc regarding Alyx being mortally wounded and then healing her with the Vorts through the Antlion nest was really weird. It's Half-Life so it was a competently designed and fun section, and the "Vortal Combat" music sequence is a highlight in terms of getting my adrenaline pumping. But it's weird because it's totally superfluous to the story and basically just filler other than G-Man's speech. Alyx is wounded and healed all within the same plot arc and you cut it entirely from the game, skipping straight to the toxic waste car retrieval and nothing would change storywise. It's still fine, but I got the vibe they wanted to pad it out longer than Episode One.

Gameplay wise easiest the hardest part of Half-Life barring the final levels of Xen in Black Mesa. I was playing on Hard difficulty and gee whizz those Hunters were a pain in the ass to deal with. The Strider battle at the end was savescum heaven. It was like the beach scene from Edge of Tomorrow.

Storywise it's great though. The threat of the "actual "Combine being called to Earth and the dinner bell that ended the world the first time being rang again creates a desperation and apocalyptic stakes that the series really needed as a jolt of life at the end. There is an immense feeling of satisfaction and closure when Gordon hits the button to launch the rocket, it feels like a form of redemption for what happened at Black Mesa. Cutting Earth off for good from unknown cosmic evils. The Borealis is also an immensely interesting plot thread: the sinister Aperture Science of Portal fame apparently had their own version of the Resonance Cascade in terms of potential power/destructive capability, and now some parts of the Resistance want you to use it, the Combine want it, and Eli (Who apparently knows about G-Man and is willing to tell you some information about the biggest black hole of knowledge in the series) wants you to destroy it to prevent the sins of the Black Mesa incident being wrought once again.

Eli's death at the end is a great narrative move, too. It undercuts the pure and total victory of humanity, gives development to Alyx and ties her closer to Gordon, and gives the player a driving motivation to destroy the Borealis when they get there, on the dying wish of an old mentor and (in another time) father in law. Intrigue, finality and cosmic horror await Gordon and Alyx in the Antarctic.

I'm aware Half-Life 3 is now actually confirmed and that Alyx messes with/contributes to the ending of Episode 2 in a significant way but I don't know the exact details yet. I've come into an unexpected surplus of cash recently so I am extremely strongly considering getting a Valve Index and Alyx, my only restraint is that I know 100% the only game I would have on VR would be Alyx so I'm somewhat hesistant.

Great sereis though, I'm extremely glad I gave it a thorough and contemporary replay.

 

I'm going to Hell for laughing at this and I am taking you all with me:

 

I would like to thank Neil Druckmann for introducing tranny porn into AAA video gaming. Ever since, I have been masturbating so hard I have blisters on my penis, my hands, just everywhere. I have ejaculated so many times that I feel the next time my eyes meet that Knotty Dog goodness I'll spurt scalding hot blood all over myself and promptly die from the steamy male on female (male) action that the visionary himself designed.

Spoiler: WARNING: LINK SENDS TO LOU2 SPOILERS OF THE SEXUAL VARIETY

https://kiwifarms.net/threads/the-last-of-us-part-2.26310/post-6735065

Seriously though, what the fuck Neil not only does your self insert spit on Joel before Abbie kills him but now he's fucking Abbie in a sex scene and my nip games can't even show a bikini without getting censored? Fuck you and fuck SNOY!

Spoiler: Sony censoring non-tranny lewdness

Spoiler: More Druckmann self insertion

 

Inject that shit into my veins!

 

I didn't know there was a Japanese version of FIFA

 

I grew up watching Captain Tsubasa on the TV. I want to see how that game will turn out so bad. And I don't even like football games.

 

It will fill the void the Inazuma Eleven left getting delayed and sounding like it was gonna be bad.
I hope it's as fun as those games used to be.