Mafia 3

I'm so frustrated by this one and it is a game I'll probably go back to later. It's a completely generic open world title,doing the basic 'take over the neighbourhood' plot you would expect. And after a mission literally called 'prostitution' I was on to one called 'smack'.

The problem is I really like Lincoln Clay as a concept, and the period trappings are not only outstanding, they may be best in class. My wife even popped in and remarked 'I know that song and that looks good'.
But Lincoln Clay is a Vietnam Vet, and to have him going around on murder sprees feels as myopic as the misconceptions about what the first Rambo movie is.
It's so frustrating as the game ha so much to say, the framing device is wonderful, but I just can't do fanny about open world drugs n guns shit with this. More keen to trade it in and grab Watch dogs 2 where I can do a full blown non lethal play through.

JonB wrote:

I tried Everyone's Gone to the Rapture earlier. After 20 minutes I felt nauseous and bored. To be fair, I didn't expect to like it, but I'm increasingly nonplussed as to the point of this sort of thing.

I thought it was an ok game, but I was hoping for something more along the lines of Personal Nightmare which I loved playing on the Atari ST, but it was nowhere near as scary

Super Bunnyhop has a good review on it where he suggests that the bold and logical move would have been to take out all the guns, because a non-lethal play-through is both absolutely possible and far better suited to the tone of the game. 

Tempy wrote:

Super Bunnyhop has a good review on it where he suggests that the bold and logical move would have been to take out all the guns, because a non-lethal play-through is both absolutely possible and far better suited to the tone of the game. 

It totally fits the character you're playing. As mentioned, in Mafia 3 you're just back from Nam, and the first conversation in a car involves the worst thing your character saw out there. Despite other motivations, seems unlikely you'd want to go around stabbing dudes in the neck, as you can do.

In watch dogs 2 you're a hacker who wants to do something, not a thug by any stretch. From poddos I've listened to, it seems your pals are much of the same ilk; I'm gonna try to grab it and do a non lethal.

XOMuggins wrote:

JonB wrote:

I tried Everyone's Gone to the Rapture earlier. After 20 minutes I felt nauseous and bored. To be fair, I didn't expect to like it, but I'm increasingly nonplussed as to the point of this sort of thing.

Big time atmosphere is a good enough point, I reckon.

I liked the setting. Kept thinking it would be nice to actually be playing a game in those surroundings.

Well maybe it is - I shouldn't have opened that rabbit hole.

I just mean doing something which involves making choices that have consequences, ways you can succeed or fail and so on.

Edit: I already knew I wasn't into these kinds of experiences, but am still surprised by the low level of interaction. And it gave me motion sickness.

The watching and listening is as much part of the play as anything else. The experience is entirely different from watching a movie. Even though your ability to impact the environment is minimal, the exploration and discovery makes those story moments matter a hell of a lot more than if you just watched someone play it on youtube. Same with something like Journey. It matters that it is the player initiating these things.

Do your journeys have chauffeurs, perchance?

Dinostar77 wrote:

JonB wrote:

What are the Revelations games like then? Do they play like proper Resi games? I notice you can get the whole of Resi Rev 2 for £7 on PSN at the moment.

Revelations 1 isn't worth playing. It's a port of a nintendo DS game therefore areas feel fairly spartan. Revelations2 is much better. Better than Res5 and Res6. Nowhere near the classics I.e. 1,2,3,4

Revs 1 is a 3DS game, and absolutely stellar, you heathen.

Revs 2 is stonking, I'm still playing it. Just finished my fifth play through, looking for medals and achievements. It's only beaten, IMHO, by Resi 4.

Both Rev games were good.

6 is the only stinker although I've never played 3, CV or 0 enough to judge.

Andy wrote:

Tempy wrote:

Super Bunnyhop has a good review on it...

I take it that there's some kind of meta thing going on here, reviewing what looks like the world's most irritating game in an unforgivably irritating fashion.

Not really. Once you get used to his handful of personal quirks, which are a fuck ton less irritating than the vast majority of big youtube reviewers out there, he's one of the more thorough critics on the site. 

I anticipate your pithy "well they must all be shit response" but this is just my personal opinion of the guy. I dislike his tone and cadence at times, but as far as I am concerned the actual words and ideas he puts down are good enough for me to get past that.

Gav posted one of her videos, about football games. Her voice is a bit grating (although it's the style of delivery rather than her actual voice) but it was the primary school playground level of humour and lack of anything worthwhile to say about the games that was offensive.

Paul the sparky wrote:

Good video, that.

Yeah, pretty good.

He was sufficiently non-"what's up guys?" for me.

retroking1981 wrote:

Both Rev games were good. 6 is the only stinker although I've never played 3, CV or 0 enough to judge.

Agreed, 6 is by far and away the worst Resi. I was disappointed that Rev 2 wasn't a 3DS exclusive, but in the end I'm glad it wasn't - they're both good but Rev 2 blew my socks off. I've not played CV but 3 and 0 are both really good, IMHO. 0 is particularly under-rated.

Dark Soldier wrote:

Shall I bring up Kim Justice again? Does astonishingly in-depth videos but because meds due to transitioning, voice breaks and cracks and changes tone so that's DEEPLY OFFENSIVE TO EARS, allegedly.

She also writes for Retro Gamer on a semi-regular basis, definitely knows her stuff.

I'll resume this in its rightful place

Moot_Geeza wrote:

It's a looker, but it's not for me. Reminds me of Guacamelee in that I never felt it was difficult outside of the controls translating about 30% of my actions into responses that I didn't want. Got to the second shrine escape and after a few goes at gliding through it I got to the long upwards chimney at the end, only to be instantly killed by a giant falling boulder that there was no way of dodging without foreknowledge. No thanks. Combat was mind-numbing as well.

I'll double jump to its defence as I thought it was pretty much exceptional throughout.  I found the controls to be absolutely spot on, save for one ability towards the end, to the point where I'd say it rivals Meat Boy for a perfectly functioning moveset, despite adding dozens of extra abilities.  A 30% miss rate is pretty high for a game I'd describe as the best ever example of 2D platforming in terms of pinpoint, supertight control.    The escape sections require route planning with information gleaned from dying.  I get that this approach isn't for everyone but I thought that was the best way to handle those three (four?) distinct difficulty spikes.  You're practicing your escape; when you perfect it you're out.   Still, you got pretty far in, so nvm.

I never found the moveset accurate but I doubt it is because of the moveset itself, more because of the ambiguous nature of the ground you're moving on, thanks to the artwork that seems to not want to repeat a single shape or form at any point. Constantly mounting the lips of walls into bristles of spikes because a certain edge is 5% different form the last few you've climbed up was common, and frequently landing on obstacles or enemies because the exact edges were ill defined was another frequent issue. Combat is just best not talked about altogether given how loose it was, but it would be remiss not to point out those charmless blobs that shoot out three mines like they're going out of fashion, which given the immense visual noise at any point ends up with you just hammering X whilst charging around barely in control, hoping you don't end up careening into one of the five thousand shithead children it has spawned before your zero skill weapon has offed the offending cretin.

I know how the escape routes function, and that kind of repitious failure and practice for success is always a really weird choice for a section of gameplay that is supposed to be about making a dramatic escape (what's dramatic about try 13?) but checkpointing me with 4 health and making me do it over and over with its punishing damage application. only to shove a giant "fuck you" boulder at the end was just the end of my enjoyment with it. I was happy muddling through for the moments it did work, but contempt for the player's time like that is never a good look.

it certainly isn't the worst game ever, by any stretch, and I was largely enjoying the novelty it regularly threw out at me, but so many sections just felt designed to be beaten by attrition over reaction and skill which always puts me off.