Good list! (Off-Topic)

by cheapLEY , Friday, December 29, 2017, 20:48 (2302 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Submerged (PC) - There is no combat. It's pure exploration. The setting is interesting and in line with my preferred flavor of post apocalypse (more on that later) and at times both beautiful and unsettling. I missed it back in '15 when it was released, but Steam sales do wonders for growing my back catalog. Definitely worth it for the chill atmosphere and interesting story telling if you have the time.

I may have to look into this. It sounds neat.

D16M (Switch) - Happily this game is still amazing and it running on a Switch is impressive. Sadly it doesn't play as well in handheld mode simply due to the way Nintendo made the Joycons. But it makes for a very satisfying periodic diversion.

Do you have a pro controller? If not, how does it control? I pretty much only use my Switch in handheld mode--I just like playing like that. But the analog sticks on they joycons are passable at best, and I honestly could not imagine trying to play a FPS, much less a super fast one like Doom with them and have anything resembling a fun time.

Breath of the Wild (Switch) - I think you summed it up pretty well for me with "feels empty and hollow" and while there is definitely more to it that is a succinct way to put it. From a technical standpoint and the chosen art direction for the game they were making is great. The game is fun, though I feel that the grind for stamina and the durability systems are a little heavy handed in a bad way. The more RPG elements are nice, and I actually enjoy the cooking mechanic. A little tighter experience with some aspects of the game and I would likely regard it much higher. I don't think it is up there with the more focused Zelda games, but it definitely is a very enjoyable world to be in if nothing else.

That's really it for me. That world, as empty as it is, is absolutely enthralling to be in. I really think it's the way they play with scale and sight lines (there is literally always at least two things, bare minimum, on the horizon that look interesting). I really miss actual dungeons, though. I very strongly disliked the Divine Beasts beyond the initial gimmick, and I feel like once you've done a dozen shrines you've basically seen them all, beyond the rare outlier. Korok seeds are sort of neat at first, but that's literally one of five "puzzles" repeated 900 some odd times througout the world. I'd love for the next Zelda to have a BotW styled world with real Zelda dungeons instead of shrines and some actually interesting NPCs and quests to discover. Still, just exploring that world is a real joy, and especially with the climbing and paraglider, it's just fun to move around. All of my issues with the game really do sort of disappear and become irrelevant when I'm actually playing it.

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus (PS4) - GotY Runner up for me. It continues the story from The New Order in a very visceral way. Highly enjoyable. It is worth playing for that alone. I think the actual story (even including The Old Blood) of these games show what the medium is capable of even more than a lot of pure narrative games that are out there. It can be brutally punishing, but also provides a very good and punchy bit of combat. Transitioning from stealth kills to dual shotguns is probably one of the most giddifying things you can do this year in any game. Definitely some rough spots in encounter balance, but nothing that was impossible to work out. And I've only done one play through.

I'm glad this game exists, and I really, really like the story, but man I actively hate playing the game. Like, I don't even think it's mediocre, it's absolutely atrocious. Nothing about it feels good to me. It feels worse than the first game by a pretty considerable margin, and I didn't like that one either.

And two Pen and Paper games have taken up a reasonable amount of time. Even if I haven't actually sat down and had a group to play them with. Just random D&D pick up games.

I've always sort of wanted to give tabletop a try, just never had a group that was willing, and never quite cared enough to try and find one. Maybe that's a decent gauge of how much I'd actually like it. I love listening to Austin Walker's tabletop play podcast, though. Friends at the Table is really good.