OT: Video Games V

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Marshall

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How's the difficulty? DOS2 was a little harder than I would have liked, though I slogged through to the end.

I'm playing Plague Tale through GamePass PC, which I just got for the first time in anticipation of my XSX.

Definitely can be a PITA, especially if you are dumb like me and forget to use your abilities. Have replayed some battles three or four times.
 
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usiel

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Can't talk. Playing.

Quick review so far - combat is good, think DOS2, but the storytelling is usually done in cinematics, which is a big plus. The companions seem interesting, and I can't stop shoving people around the battlefield.

Think DOS2 with BG lore, and you're pretty much spot-on.

Been debating picking it up or waiting a bit. Thanks for the quick review there.
 

Cush

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Been debating picking it up or waiting a bit. Thanks for the quick review there.

Yeah, problem with early access titles is that you might get burned out. If you spend a lot of time going through what's available, having to repeat it in the final release can be annoying. I bought Bannerlord but haven't touched it in months for this reason (that and I'm waiting for workshop support)
 

usiel

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Yeah, problem with early access titles is that you might get burned out. If you spend a lot of time going through what's available, having to repeat it in the final release can be annoying. I bought Bannerlord but haven't touched it in months for this reason (that and I'm waiting for workshop support)

Yeah leaning towards waiting a while. Triple boxing in Eve Online kinda sucked me in so not feeling the need for something new atm but Forgotten Realms is close to my heart. All my 3.0 3.5 D&D adventures where in FR. Found out some behind the scenes stuff that went between the creators of FR and the powers that be for 4th edition were so awful. Bad enough to despise WoC for an eternity.
 
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Drake1588

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I grabbed a not completely official copy of Baldur's Gate 3 to try out. Installed it. There was a cutscene with Cthulhu and flying squids and dragons and eye worms. The game started and I pulled a brain out of a guy's head because it told me to, leading to a die roll that I failed, and then the brain grew legs and joined my party. It kept sassing me and now I am definitely in the alpha brain's party. This was only the five-minute mark. I may be uninstalling this game. Weird +20
 

g00n

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I grabbed a not completely official copy of Baldur's Gate 3 to try out. Installed it. There was a cutscene with Cthulhu and flying squids and dragons and eye worms. The game started and I pulled a brain out of a guy's head because it told me to, leading to a die roll that I failed, and then the brain grew legs and joined my party. It kept sassing me and now I am definitely in the alpha brain's party. This was only the five-minute mark. I may be uninstalling this game. Weird +20

I think you may have been dosed.
 

Hivemind

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I grabbed a not completely official copy of Baldur's Gate 3 to try out. Installed it. There was a cutscene with Cthulhu and flying squids and dragons and eye worms. The game started and I pulled a brain out of a guy's head because it told me to, leading to a die roll that I failed, and then the brain grew legs and joined my party. It kept sassing me and now I am definitely in the alpha brain's party. This was only the five-minute mark. I may be uninstalling this game. Weird +20

How on Earth would those five minutes make you want to uninstall a game? I hadn't been all that interested in early access for Baldur's Gate, but this makes me want to download it right now.
 

AlexBrovechkin8

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I'm assuming this is the part?




e1feea2df73447797ac9ebf37b09848a.jpg
 

g00n

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Welp, played my first 2 games of FIFA 21 tonight-- the demo of Liverpool vs PSG at the beginning, and a FUT Squad Battle with whatever schmucky team you get after a few "thanks for coming back" bronze and gold packs. Won both with aggregate score of 14-1, so consistent with reviews there is going to be a lot of offense in this game.

Mostly it looks like re-skinned FIFA 20 as you'd expect. I read somewhere fitness consumables are now gone, which would be great if true. You can customize crowd chants and other stadium effects, which seems like it will be cool.

But one thing I noticed right away is the player movement is a little different. The animations and pacing has changed, and I think it's better but I'm not positive yet. It's more "jerky" and plodding.

You will notice the other team stepping into passing lanes more often, and overwhelming you on a high press very quickly if you're not careful. Did not get a chance to try out much of the new dribbling or manual control of runs to see if that stuff is useful. I do appreciate not falling down every time you touch someone else that's near the ball.

Oh, and the music is 90% shit until further notice. Haven't heard all the songs but so far only ONE has failed to annoy me with some crap autotune or other farty alt-pop pretentiousness. If the rest are like this I may have to turn off the trax entirely. Can't recall if you can spotify while playing.
 
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AlexBrovechkin8

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Welp, played my first 2 games of FIFA 21 tonight-- the demo of Liverpool vs PSG at the beginning, and a FUT Squad Battle with whatever schmucky team you get after a few "thanks for coming back" bronze and gold packs. Won both with aggregate score of 14-1, so consistent with reviews there is going to be a lot of offense in this game.

Mostly it looks like re-skinned FIFA 20 as you'd expect. I read somewhere fitness consumables are now gone, which would be great if true. You can customize crowd chants and other stadium effects, which seems like it will be cool.

But one thing I noticed right away is the player movement is a little different. The animations and pacing has changed, and I think it's better but I'm not positive yet. It's more "jerky" and plodding.

You will notice the other team stepping into passing lanes more often, and overwhelming you on a high press very quickly if you're not careful. Did not get a chance to try out much of the new dribbling or manual control of runs to see if that stuff is useful. I do appreciate not falling down every time you touch someone else that's near the ball.

Oh, and the music is 90% shit until further notice. Haven't heard all the songs but so far only ONE has failed to annoy me with some crap autotune or other farty alt-pop pretentiousness. If the rest are like this I may have to turn off the trax entirely. Can't recall if you can spotify while playing.
Thanks for the review. I've bought FIFA every year running since I think 2014 but am still pretty entertained with the '20 version so haven't made the plunge yet. I also confess to never having played FUT as I heard it was mainly a money grab where the best teams were made by people who used real money to buy FUT packs or whatever they're called. No thanks if that's the case. I spend my time entirely in online seasons but maybe I'll give FUT a chance this year depending on how much influence real money has on the game. I had never really gotten into a bunch of other modes on NHL either but really liked World of Chel this year.

EA's ability to make terrible soundtracks is beyond reproach. They are the GOAT at awful music and that premise was reinforced after I bought Tony Hawk and remembered how many fire jams are on that soundtrack. Not sure there's ever been a better video game / song fit than Goldfinger - Superman and Tony Hawk.
 
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g00n

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Thanks for the review. I've bought FIFA every year running since I think 2014 but am still pretty entertained with the '20 version so haven't made the plunge yet. I also confess to never having played FUT as I heard it was mainly a money grab where the best teams were made by people who used real money to buy FUT packs or whatever they're called. No thanks if that's the case. I spend my time entirely in online seasons but maybe I'll give FUT a chance this year depending on how much influence real money has on the game. I had never really gotten into a bunch of other modes on NHL either but really liked World of Chel this year.

EA's ability to make terrible soundtracks is beyond reproach. They are the GOAT at awful music and that premise was reinforced after I bought Tony Hawk and remembered how many fire jams are on that soundtrack. Not sure there's ever been a better video game / song fit than Goldfinger - Superman and Tony Hawk.

The best soundtrack for any sports game ever:

Madden NFL 10

Whoever got away with THAT was clearly new and probably fired soon afterward.


Raik is the FUT expert here so he can give the best advice for online play. I only play offline so I don't run into the pay-to-play problem, but I've heard there are people who show up on day 1 with fully formed megateams they've purchased. I understand there are other tiers/modes that try to mitigate this.

For me it's about doing the challenges and building a team, sort of like an adventure game where you increase levels, build your party, etc., then beating better squads. There are weekly pack/coin rewards depending on how you do in your offline Squad Battles, and you can solve squad building challenges for further rewards (special augmented players, coins, packs). Sometimes I'll just spend time f***ing around with the roster or transfer market or squad building puzzles instead of playing a match.

To get the most points/coins as you go through Squad Battles I've found it's better to beat the shit out of a bad team than take the difficulty multiplier and barely win 1-0 against a tougher team. But you can really cash in if you can up the difficulty just enough and still win 5-1 or whatever. Look for shit teams with bad chemistry and not too many hidden stars on the bench, especially if they have players out of position (like a RM playing GK....those teams are ripe for jacking up the difficulty). Get a big lead early on teams with good players waiting to sub in, especially at a high difficulty because they can blow you up at that level.


FUT is very dependent on chemistry, as that greatly impacts your player's stats, so be aware of that. Pace is king but this year supposedly all sorts of stats factor much more into player performance.

Navigating the interface is daunting at first but after a while you get used to it. Finding where everything is and knowing what to do next is the big first hurdle.
 
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CapitalsCupReality

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Gaming laptops.....need some suggestions.

Always wanted an Alienware, never wanted to blow the $ and preferred desktops, but now I have a business use case so, I’m considering scratching that lifelong itch....

I’ve built my last 4-5 PCs, and will be building a HTPC soon, but I’d like to have this for gaming, media consumption, probably run 1-2 VMs, etc.....mobility is a must.

Thoughts?

Talk to me Goose....
 

usiel

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Gaming laptops.....need some suggestions.

Always wanted an Alienware, never wanted to blow the $ and preferred desktops, but now I have a business use case so, I’m considering scratching that lifelong itch....

I’ve built my last 4-5 PCs, and will be building a HTPC soon, but I’d like to have this for gaming, media consumption, probably run 1-2 VMs, etc.....mobility is a must.

Thoughts?

Talk to me Goose....

I jumped on a deal earlier this year which was 700 bucks off an alienware 15. I just updated to the Oled screen and I one other tweak that were modest costs (video card was a Nvidia GF rtx 2070 max-Q) and was around 1700. I believe it was through PCGamer twitter which I follow and are pretty decent in giving heads up on pc gaming deals.

Also picked up a Acer Helios 300 with a 1080p 3ms 144 refresh rate 15" and the screen is surprisingly smooth. Not playing shooter games with it but man the refresh rate is silky. Oh gtx 1660ti. Just a bit over a grand.

I think of course with a lap top pick the budget first and then figuring out what type of gaming and other performance. Maybe check with cyberpowerpc.com they have advanced customization for gaming laptops. But yeah to get something beastly the cost really goes up to the 4k range. Sort of diminishing returns weighing cost versus performance primary gaming machine wise.
 
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CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
Feb 27, 2002
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I jumped on a deal earlier this year which was 700 bucks off an alienware 15. I just updated to the Oled screen and I one other tweak that were modest costs (video card was a Nvidia GF rtx 2070 max-Q) and was around 1700. I believe it was through PCGamer twitter which I follow and are pretty decent in giving heads up on pc gaming deals.

Also picked up a Acer Helios 300 with a 1080p 3ms 144 refresh rate 15" and the screen is surprisingly smooth. Not playing shooter games with it but man the refresh rate is silky. Oh gtx 1660ti. Just a bit over a grand.

I think of course with a lap top pick the budget first and then figuring out what type of gaming and other performance. Maybe check with cyberpowerpc.com they have advanced customization for gaming laptops. But yeah to get something beastly the cost really goes up to the 4k range. Sort of diminishing returns weighing cost versus performance primary gaming machine wise.

good stuff, thx.

you have the the R2 or R3?

thoughts on the 300hz vs OLED. that’s probably my biggest question mark. You have the Tobii eye tracking? Thoughts on that?

which raid option did you go with?
 
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g00n

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IMO never cheap out on something that's 2 of 3 for important, long-term, or therapeutic. I see that kind of thing as an investment, even if it's in your own sanity through recreation.

Unless of course we're talking about media robber barons hiking prices for sporting events in which case TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS
 

CapitalsCupReality

It’s Go Time!!
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I’m usually the guy that buys the CPU that ‘s a level below the top, because that top end to buy is usually cost-prohibitive.

Absolutely why the display option is something I must get right. Will be heavily used and want it to still be a good/decent gaming rig in 2 years.
 

Devil Dancer

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Jan 21, 2006
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I've had two Lenovo gaming laptops in a row, since they had the most performance/$ when I bought. My current machine is a Lenovo Legion that I got last year for $1300.

ACtC-3dZmRH8lVuTy_Z28KdyGX9lmBY2H8ASLLcsiJJolqO_WhPXrc-xQIml7fEKZMIcgJFb9p5-y-OM_g2pSDxc3TnlhJqjZClK9hAYh_8oYI-c2yoHROToqiP_vZSKRHrnucUJ2nMcLB0mOTDBsMD6rAu3=w559-h220-no


It has a RTX 2060m, which I've been pretty happy with, and a 144 screen. I usually get 60-100 FPS on modern games on high or ultra. It's about as powerful as a Series S.

I found it on SlickDeals.net, which is definitely worth checking.
 
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usiel

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good stuff, thx.

you have the the R2 or R3?

thoughts on the 300hz vs OLED. that’s probably my biggest question mark. You have the Tobii eye tracking? Thoughts on that?

which raid option did you go with?

Probably the R2 the current R3 versions are definitely newer. The OLED 4k just looks fantastic..throwing in an old game and it looks like something great. Would wish it had mroe that 60 refresh. The smoothness of 144 1080p is very nice. Which is why I have been tempted by the LG 48" CX Oled (120hz) as a potential gaming monitor but did find out would probably have to update the video card.

Didn't do the eye tracking thing I looked into it at the time and didn't think it was anything I would use. Had two NVMe512GB. Didn't raid since does raid-0 with SSDs don't do much unless this has changed in the last couple of years.
 
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Drake1588

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I have had a couple of Razer Blades now, and I'm a fan. They're expensive, but I find that with laptops, the tactile things are really important for me. You might cart around a gaming mouse with you, but otherwise, you will be staring at the laptop's screen, you'll be typing on its keyboard, and the quality of the materials and construction for the chassis really matters. It's not like a desktop where you'll be interacting directly with peripherals. If your laptop warps or creaks or flexes, you're going to know about it. Razers are built like Macbooks, but they're all PC. Good graphics, good compact build. They're expensive, though I think you get what you pay for with the Blade's construction.

I have a Blade 15 now. Having had a 14" 3K touch screen as well as a 15.6" 1080p version, go with the 1080p for gaming unless graphical workflow use is really important to you.

Razer makes a lot of overpriced junk, but the Blade is a quality product.
 
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