The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

Post by The Bill »

Bah! I’m restoring the slate flooring around my “man cave” so it’s still too wet. Can’t effect my mass till it dries some.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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I don't know if I should be embarrassed, but I was literally sitting in front of my PC waiting for the game to unlock.

Anyway, I played Eden Prime and the Citadel stuff afterwards, plus one random Mako landing, and so far, yeah, it's good. The combat is still clunky overall, but the shooting does feel better. The graphics updates work best for the aliens, which really look fantastic now - the human faces now have much better skin textures, but they're still Mass Effect faces from 14 years ago. What I probably appreciate the most about the updated graphics, actually, is that the clothing textures don't look like JPEGs from 1998 anymore. That and of course the fact that it just runs so much more smoothly. I also actually enjoyed driving the Mako now, which is nice because I always thought it was really cool looking.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

Post by Eight Bit Alien »

The Mako is probably my favorite 'art direction' thing in any video game. The look of all that shit felt very 70s inspired to me, especially coupled with some of the music throughout the series. Not totally sure if that was intentional or if it just touched my neurons funny, but that very first time you took the Mako through the snow planet... jeez. Memorable shit.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Oh, they're very open about how heavily they were influenced by Syd Mead, especially when it comes to vehicles, actually.

Actually one of my few complaints about the sequels is that they lost a bit of that 70s retro sci-fi feel because everything had to look... I dunno, chunkier, for lack of a better word. There's an elegance to the art direction of ME1 that the sequels just don't quite have anymore. And of course the music in the first game was by far the best. That really stands out for me right now as I'm playing through it again. That synthwave shit is just so damn good, and I wish they hadn't moved in that more generic movie soundtrack direction with the sequels.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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spacehamster wrote: Sat May 15, 2021 10:11 am Oh, they're very open about how heavily they were influenced by Syd Mead, especially when it comes to vehicles, actually.

Actually one of my few complaints about the sequels is that they lost a bit of that 70s retro sci-fi feel because everything had to look... I dunno, chunkier, for lack of a better word. There's an elegance to the art direction of ME1 that the sequels just don't quite have anymore.
I agree. I still really liked the 2nd/3rd but they definitely felt more like CONTEMPORARY AAA CONSOLE GAME and had less of the unique personality of the first. Even shit I liked, like the cigarette conspiracy guy, wouldn't have existed in the first one.

This will sound way too critical, but there was a shift along the [Ridley Scott] <----> [JJ Abrams] continuum.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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The Bill wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 11:44 am Bah! I’m restoring the slate flooring around my “man cave” so it’s still too wet. Can’t effect my mass till it dries some.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Mass Effect really is miles above most games I’ve played in forever. INCLUDING DARK SOULS! And if you don’t like that, you can stick it, brother.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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I logged like 16 hours over the weekend and I can't stop playing. I really kind of forgot how much I love Mass Effect. And with the snappier combat and smooth framerate, it's even better. I've never had any desire to play the first one on Insanity, but now I think I will.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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spacehamster wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 3:48 pm I logged like 16 hours over the weekend and I can't stop playing. I really kind of forgot how much I love Mass Effect. And with the snappier combat and smooth framerate, it's even better. I've never had any desire to play the first one on Insanity, but now I think I will.
Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve had a game trick me into “ I’ll just do one more thing. Okay, two more things…”. 3 hours later. I’m all in on Liara this time. Hope I can deny Miranda. I’ve replayed 1 & 2, but only played 3 once. That was the pre-altered ending at that. Romanced Williams. Not doing that again.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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The Bill wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:39 pm Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve had a game trick me into “ I’ll just do one more thing. Okay, two more things…”. 3 hours later. I’m all in on Liara this time. Hope I can deny Miranda. I’ve replayed 1 & 2, but only played 3 once. That was the pre-altered ending at that. Romanced Williams. Not doing that again.
If I do my Insanity run in ME1, I'm doing the Ashley romance. I've played all three games a million times, and I'm about 99% sure that's the one I've never done. Because, you know, she's like a space Proud Boy.

If you're doing ME3 for the first time since all the DLC stuff came out, make sure you do the Leviathan quest. The ending is still lame, but Leviathan fills in a lot of blanks. I don't want to spoil it, but it kinda feels like it was supposed to be in the vanilla game and left a giant plot hole when it was removed.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Ashley was fine enough looking on my non-HD TV via the 360 back then, but 4K on PC, she became a 2 bottles of tequila later looker.

I’m also sad to admit I finally figured out you can use someone else with high electronics to salvage junk. So, as a constant companion Talia went from zero to hero. Maybe I should bang her.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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The Bill wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 5:54 am I’m also sad to admit I finally figured out you can use someone else with high electronics to salvage junk. So, as a constant companion Talia went from zero to hero. Maybe I should bang her.
Tali annoys the shit out of me, always has. I think it's just the voice actress. She always sounds like she's mildly annoyed and complaining. Like, she's a muslim space elf, but she talks like a Karen? I dunno. It's a shame, too, because the Quarian/Geth backstory is one of the better aspects of the lore and I do like the other Quarian characters fine, but I'm near the end of my ME1 playthrough and as usual, I maybe went down to the engine bay to talk to Tali once and then just forgot she was there.

I think Liara has the Electronics talent? I've done every mission with her and Garrus again, that gives me access to everything I need, and Garrus becomes an absolute beast with an assault rifle if you level him up accordingly. Half the time I don't have to do anything, he just mows everyone down.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Jesus, what did I create? Liara is like goddamn Magneto, just everything not nailed down in the area just flies everywhere. I don’t remember this level of mess making in any of the three ever.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Beat ME1 last night. So, it took about a week exactly. My play time was 27 hours or so. Thus, I spent over an entire day in one week’s time playing a video game. Granted, I never do things like this anymore. So, I’m not sure if it speaks to the quality of Mass Effect or the dissatisfaction of my regular day to day activities. Even odder still is the wife ordered one of those mirror workout devices and it’s in the basement near the PC, so being around that made me want to use it often. So, Mass Effect has enabled me to be in the best shape snd health I’ve been since the 2019.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Finished all of Mass Effect. Super goods 10/10. Next time I should be a wizard.

Started Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Couldn’t win the second “draw, partner” mini game. Game wasn’t so hot anyway. Deleted!

Started Deadfall Adventures. Was digging the Indiana Jones vibe. Wanted to see if he bangs the girl, BUT game isn’t really good. Too janky for me, dog. Deleted!

Started Bloodrayne. You know it’s not a bad game. Wonderful blood and dismemberment. Suffers from being such a damn PS2 game. There’s respawning enemies, and generic level design, and backtracking that forgets you already were there, and ransom attack moves you do, and being locked into animation while taking damage…. But. But, I think they developers were fans of No One Lives Forever. It can be randomly funny, and when it does scripted sequences it’s quite good. It’s not great, but it’s just good enough.

Also started Metal Gear Rising: Resometingorother. 10/10. There really is no other game like this. I think it had to be one of the greatest of all time.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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The Bill wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:08 pm Also started Metal Gear Rising: Resometingorother. 10/10. There really is no other game like this. I think it had to be one of the greatest of all time.
It's funny, I was just thinking about this game recently for some reason. The PC version especially really was a special kind of awesome. I also really loved Vanquish, and I really wish these two games had sold better than Bayonetta, but they didn't and we got more weeb waifu DMC instead. Sigh.

Anyway, after I wrapped up my LE run-through of the Mass Effect trilogy, I went back and finally beat the first one on Insanity (because, uh, the combat is actually fun now) and then I decided to... play Andromeda again. It's funny, I have 50 hours in this game, apparently, but I don't remember jack shit about it. So far I like it much more than I remembered. The combat feels great (although it's really just nuts that they abandoned squad commands), the voice acting is as good as any Bioware game and outside of the facial animations, it looks great too. But I'm only at the end of the first story planet, so we'll see what I think when the open world tedium sets back in. Overall, I think they had something here - the new setting is a good idea, and I actually like that it feels more like your dad was Commander Shepard and people don't take you seriously. It's just, well, you know, EA.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Beat Metal Gear Rising. Armstrong is a dick!

Also beat Resident Evil 3 (remake). Now, I’ve never played the original version so I bear no hostility to whatever was cut or changed. I will say it’s real short, has levels taken straight out of 2, and just doesn’t have the quality of 2 (remake). Too many times it throws hoards of zombies forcing action over horror. Still, it’s good.

Was going to start RE8 but a sudden desire to replay RE7 again has taken over. So, that is happening.

Still slogging through Bloodrayne. It’s starting to get boring and annoying. Second half of Act I I can fuck off.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Anyone play Elite Dangerous Odyssey? I didn't bother to search.
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delmuerte wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:05 pm Anyone play Elite Dangerous Odyssey? I didn't bother to search.
No. What is that anyway? A first person shooter expansion for a space flight simulator. I think I might have watched 2 minutes of a review of it, but they said it was buggy or poorly optimized or not out of beta or something. Looked boring, though. Like one of those future COD games without the scripted nuttiness. Alot of modern FPSers bore me. I mean not the “Boomer Shooters”, their badass. Off the top of my head, look into Viscerafest, Dusk, and Amid Evil.
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Beat RE7 and am about to go on a summer vacation so I decided to look at Resident Evil 6. Now, I thought this was a Resident Evil game. So far, all I see is Quick Time Events staring some male model and Jennifer Love Hewitt directed by a completely uninhibited Micheal Bay. Holy hell, what is happening?
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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Decided to play through Doom Eternal again now that the ray tracing update is live. Looks good if you can notice it while the game is going 100mph.

Also playing the new Rachet and Clank a bit here and there. I like it so far, but it's just not what I usually pick up when I want to play something.
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abdominalpillaging wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:37 pm Decided to play through Doom Eternal again now that the ray tracing update is live. Looks good if you can notice it while the game is going 100mph.

Also playing the new Rachet and Clank a bit here and there. I like it so far, but it's just not what I usually pick up when I want to play something.
It's a little insane how they've added the ray tracing into Doom Eternal with basically no hit to performance, though. You really kind of have to stop and smell the flowers to see it, but it does look nice.

I want that new Ratchet & Clank game too, but I still can't even get a PS5. So I've decided to replay the Titanfall 2 campaign. It's, uh, real purdy at maxed out settings.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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spacehamster wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 4:00 am
abdominalpillaging wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:37 pm Decided to play through Doom Eternal again now that the ray tracing update is live. Looks good if you can notice it while the game is going 100mph.
It's a little insane how they've added the ray tracing into Doom Eternal with basically no hit to performance, though. You really kind of have to stop and smell the flowers to see it, but it does look nice.
Wait now. I can’t even think about turning Ray Tracing on without hoping to lose at least 30 fps. LEAST! You sure it runs that well.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

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The Bill wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:07 am
Wait now. I can’t even think about turning Ray Tracing on without hoping to lose at least 30 fps. LEAST! You sure it runs that well.
It's probably just because my PC's totally overpowered for the 1080/60 I need it to put out. IIRC you have 4K, so I dunno how it's going to look on there. I did watch the Digital Foundry Youtube review before I tried it, though, and they also said it's surprising how little it impacts performance.
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Re: The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

Post by Toilet Fleet »

Mario Golf is exactly what I wanted for what leisure time I have: stupid time-waster that is fun and low-to-no-stakes.
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