What games are you playing 2: The revenge

Playing a solo run of all the Borderlands games again. In chronological order, so BL, BL:TPS, BL2, and then Tales. It's not my first playthrough of any of them, but it's been a long while. Kind of surprised just how much of BL I remember as I haven't played it since around 2012.

I am planning on playing through each at least twice, as there is content you won't see on a single playthrough, and it's pretty near to impossible to max your level out on a single run through the game and DLC just playing normally.

I'm mostly doing this because of the recent free upgrade to the remasters, which I have all of.

A few small quality of life improvements are nice, such as picking up things like ammo and money that are on the ground automatically. You still need to grab them from inside containers, but it's a huge convenience to not have to run around and manually grab all that stuff. Weapons and gear you do still need to grab, but that's not a huge deal.

Also, Gold Keys for BL 1 is kind of nice. I've never bought any for any of them, and likely never will, but they give enough away that you really don't need to if you keep up with the giveaway codes. The older gold key codes that are still active for the sequels still work.

They haven't given any key codes away for BL1 yet, but you get a bunch automatically if you have saves for BL:TPS and BL2.

You'll want to grab them while they are available, but save most of them for the end game once you've maxed your levels out. I think spending a few to get a nice starter loadout is worth it, but you should find enough nice stuff to leave the rest till the end game.

It is prettier. Obviously the biggest difference is the first game, which still has some of the original cutscenes in some places. The first one I noticed was when I went to Mad Moxxi's place to use the bank to store stuff and that cutscene was still from the original version. It really stood out against the remastered stuff.

A tip for those who haven't played for a while and may have forgotten or are playing for the first time:

Always make sure your inventory is full when you take the Claptrap Repair missions, pick up as much junk as you need to to do so. Your chances of getting the inventory expansion item are improved the closer to full your inventory is. As I recall, all of them but the very first one in Fyrestone can give you an inventory expansion.

Save before you turn them in. These missions are the only way to expand your inventory, and you are not guaranteed to get the inventory expansion as a reward for turning the mission in. Always save right before tuning these missions in, even if you need to go a bit out of your way to do it.

If at all possible, have an overfilled inventory, as that near guarantees you'll get the inventory expansion as a reward. You can do this by turning in a mission that rewards you with gear. It will still go into your inventory even if it is full. Though you will almost always get it if your inventory is just full, so you don't need to go out of your way, it's just a bit of added insurance.

If you don't get that reward, it is best to just force shutdown the game without saving. Do not exit with the in game menu. On console use the console button menu to force exit, or ctrl-alt-del or alt+f4 on PC. Also, be aware that they do not install automatically, you have to go into your inventory and activate the item for the new slots to show up.

Anyway, it's just as fun as it always was. A level and loot shooter done well.

Speaking of Loot Shooters, I'll probably be giving Enter the Gungeon a few playthroughs as well since it just had it's last expansion update as well that added a bunch of new stuff. I'll do that when I'm taking a break from Borderlands most likely. Probably between playthroughs.

EDIT:

Praise RNJesus, for he has been kind to me!

Playing as a Siren, which is my preferred class in Borderlands.

Just found a submachine gun with +10 ammo regen at lvl 20.

That's basically it for this run being remotely difficult, not that the first run really is anyway. The damage is on the weapon is 60, which is high for the weapon type at lvl 20, but even when the damage is scaled into uselessness all I have to do is hold it and it refills my submachine gun ammo automatically in less than a minute. So, effectively unlimited ammo for all submachine guns by hanging on to it. That's worth an item slot for the rest of the game, assuming I don't find a better version later.

I also found a really nice shotgun at lvl 13. It only fires two shots before a reload, but those two shots do about 590 damage each, it has a high accuracy rating, meaning tight spread, and the reload speed is really quick. Really nice for killing big tanky shit.

Have already replaced it, but it got me through several boss fights. I have a new shotgun that is a two shot at high damage, but the spread is wider and it's mostly only good for killing critters.

These are items I found in the wilds, not with golden keys.
 
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Borderlands still...

I hope there is a special place in hell for the idiot who decided that the "collect x amount of item" item markers should be the same color as the most common shit tier gear drops in the game.
 

whitewhiskey

Well-Known Member
Been doing a Fist Weapon Only run of Dark Souls 2 recently. Surprised how much damage the Caestus are putting out
 
Pretty much broke Borderlands at the start of playthrough 2. I just left Fyrestone for Lucky's place and am confident I'll probably finish the run pretty much unscathed.

I found a +21 SMG ammo regen Mercenary class mod in the first chest the game gives you that also boosts SMG damage by 44%. I also found a Spectre class mod that regens sniper rifle ammo by +10 and boosts sniper damage by a similar amount at the end of the Claptrap DLC on my first playthrough.

I literally can't fire fast enough to burn through all my ammo for either type of weapon. I probably could burn through the SMG ammo if I tried, but that's only because I have a 86 x4 SMG with a fire rate of 12 on it. Not even the biggest hoard of enemies the game has thrown at me has survived long enough to even eat through half my ammo using that weapon. I'd pretty much have to stand and continuously shoot at nothing for a while to manage it.

I'm confident I pretty much just have to manage to not find nothing but shit tier weapons once I outlevel what I have currently to get through the run without dying more than a handful of times, and probably due to things like the crappy driving mechanics and glitches rather than enemies. That's not going to happen as I still have a bunch of gold keys for when I finally reach the level cap.

Should be done with the first game in a day or so, and then move on to the Presequel.
 
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Borderlands the Pre Sequel. Doing a Nisha run as I'm soloing and she's probably the best character for it. None of them are awful for a solo run that I recall, but Nisha is pretty much built for soloing no matter how you spec her.

I forgot just how Australian this game was.

It kind of works as it takes place on a moon of Pandora, and it makes sense that there would be a different culture there.

Not having any trouble with the slang because I'm familiar with most of it either through people I know or movies. Still, it is very pronounced, more so than I recall it being. That's not really a bad thing.
 

Oni_Rinku

Knower of Stuff
Edit: I just realized that I put this in the wrong place, could an Admin delete this for me please?
 
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Antimatter

Well-Known Member
Borderlands the Pre Sequel. Doing a Nisha run as I'm soloing and she's probably the best character for it. None of them are awful for a solo run that I recall, but Nisha is pretty much built for soloing no matter how you spec her.

I forgot just how Australian this game was.

It kind of works as it takes place on a moon of Pandora, and it makes sense that there would be a different culture there.

Not having any trouble with the slang because I'm familiar with most of it either through people I know or movies. Still, it is very pronounced, more so than I recall it being. That's not really a bad thing.
The thing i really hope BL3 keeps from PS is the voiced characters. Adds a lot of personality to the player vault hunters.

As for what i'm playing? Picked up Path of Exile for the ps4 and so far so good. running a winter orb build, near the end of act 2. I've heard the second run though the acts is pretty broken right now, but at the rate I play it will probably be patched long before I get there.
 
A combination of Sekiro and One Finger Death Punch 2.

OFDP2 is basically a rhythm game in the clothes of a fighting game, with a 1970's 'chop-socky' film asthetic.
 
So I bought and played a bit of Senran Kagura: Sinovi Versus... It feels like someone took a Musou/Warriors game, compressed it down to a small stage and then added a ton of flash and fanservice. It's some nice, simple silly fun which I've been in dire need of this past week.
 

Ordo

Well-Known Member
Bought and played through Katana Zero



It's a short but fun game, with some really neat mechanics and a pretty interesting story. I am pretty sure they'll be releasing more levels in some kind of DLC in the future but since the main game only cost me $15, and I can still run through levels whenever I want I am find myself looking forward to more challenges.
 

whitewhiskey

Well-Known Member
Got the new Hat in Time DLC yesterday.

Holy Crap, this place is big. Haven't tried the multiplayer, but 50 hat kids running 'round, that's gonna be a doozy
 
Bought and played through Katana Zero



It's a short but fun game, with some really neat mechanics and a pretty interesting story. I am pretty sure they'll be releasing more levels in some kind of DLC in the future but since the main game only cost me $15, and I can still run through levels whenever I want I am find myself looking forward to more challenges.
You may have mentioned it before, but if you're into Katana Zero, be sure to check out Dead Cells if you haven't. They have a lot in common, mostly the good stuff.
 
Rage 2.

It's basically Borderlands meets Doom 2016 with Mad Max's driving combat mechanics.

The first hour or so is super slow. Lots of exposition and it's just bland. This was the worst part of the game so far, and I'm a good six or so hours into it.

Once you get out of the starting area things quickly improve.

Once you're out, the gameplay loop is basically Borderlands 2 with better combat. It's not a loot shooter, but the way you play it is very similar to a Borderlands game.

You get a quest, travel for a while in a mostly open and fairly empty world with a smattering of things to kill between you and your objective, get to where you're going, kill everything, run around breaking stuff and opening crates for a bit, and then move on to the next mission.

Rather than a revolving door of loot, you upgrade things using the resources you'll be gathering. It's not super grindy, but there is a lot to keep track of, there are probably a bit too many currencies for upgrading stuff.

Also, the NPCs talk too much. The game thinks you'll be more interested in the story than you likely will be. It wants to have that quirky Fallout and Borderlands style sci-fi humor and doesn't pull it off nearly as well as either game. It's never awful, but there has been more than once when I wanted an NPC to just shut up so I could move on.

It's not half hour cutscene bad and never lasts more than a minute or so, but it is noticeable when it happens.

The driving is much better than Borderlands. Honestly, the crappy vehicle mechanics in Borderlands probably killed me more than any other thing in the entire game. Here you get the recent Mad Max game's vehicle controls. It's great for vehicle combat, but sucks for racing. Fortunately, as I understand it, you are only required to do one race in the entire game. The rest are entirely optional.

If you like Borderlands you'll probably like this. As I said, it has a very similar gameplay loop.

If you're expecting something more like Doom you'll be disappointed. The combat is actually a bit better than Doom 2016 when you're actually killing things, but the pacing is very different.

Honestly, if it was a more linear FPS similar to Doom it would have been a better game. The combat is the highlight, and the open world pacing gets in the way of it.

It's worth playing, but I'd say wait for a sale to grab it.
 
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Antimatter

Well-Known Member
Been playing SotN given Bloodstained is due in less than a month. Currently farming up a chassagram so I can steamroll the inverted castle.
 

Shirotsume

Not The Goddamn @dmin
The real trick is to get dual crissaegrim so you can do your best blender impression.
 
Been playing SotN given Bloodstained is due in less than a month. Currently farming up a chassagram so I can steamroll the inverted castle.
Anything else I'm playing will be tossed aside and put on the backburner the moment this releases.

Iga knows what he's doing according to everything I've seen and has handled the crowdfunding development beautifully. I'd have no issues at all with funding another project he's involved with just based on how well he handled this project.

The Curse of the Moon prequel was pretty great as well. Even if the game is just acceptable, the total package of what I've gotten has made it worth the investment.

I'm actually due to get some swag for this at some point because I'm an early backer.
 
Devil May Cry 5.

Decided to play this instead of finishing Rage 2 because I know I can beat a DMC game in a day or two and I want it off my backlog list. I've actually had it for a while and did the "did it install right and does it run" test and that's basically it. I put it aside for other games and kind of forgot I had it. I'll get back into Rage 2 once I'm done.

I mean "beat" in the sense that I can get through the first playthrough. I'll probably put it aside after that to finish other games I'm playing and then go back to it. It will take several playthroughs to really finish it.

Also picked up the Resident Evil 2 remake because I got a digital discount due to a part I bought for my PC. Not a new GPU or anything, just replaced one of my storage drives with a bigger one. This is what jogged my memory about DMC 5.

The RE engine looks really great, and runs amazingly well for such a new engine. Lots of options on PC. I'm hoping to see more games using it in the future. It wasn't that long ago that CGI movies didn't look this good.

At any rate, I'm S ranking everything because it's DMC and I can't turn up the difficulty enough to make it hard yet because I have to beat the game at least once to unlock that. Not a huge deal as in the harder difficulties you really need the skill and weapon upgrades.

Getting unlocks isn't a grind. No more than previous entries. I'm confident I'll have the majority of them after my first playthrough is done.

I always play DMC in English. That's kind of unusual for me and Japanese games. Pretty sure that's the language the devs had in mind for the series as a whole. It's anime, but the characters and setting are clearly western.

The "History of DMC" thing in the main menu was a nice touch. There are some short remixes from the main themes in there that are pretty cool. It also retcons DMC 2 to be before DMC 4, changing the official timeline. It's also worth pointing out that they quickly brush over it, which I found mildly amusing.

Nico is way less annoying than she seemed like she might be in the trailers. She's still campy as hell, but fits in better than she seemed like she might. I thought the accent would bug be, but it seems more subdued in the actual game overall than in the scenes they used for promo stuff. They do try too hard to make her try give you a boner. It doesn't really work that well because having her pose like a model in a photo shoot doesn't really fit her character. She's supposed to seem kind of trashy and blue collar.

V is an edgelord, but not a horribly grating one. His mechanics are interesting enough and not difficult to manage. My understanding is that the game never really challenges you when you're using him. It seems like they designed him to look like Adam Driver if he was a 90s goth model. It helps that they seemed to give him a sense of humor and that he seems like he's enjoying what he's doing at least a little. His bird is far more annoying than he is, but that seems intentional.

It also doesn't hurt that V fits right in, because pretty much everyone in the game seems like they belong in the 90s more than today.

They also showed their hand far too soon, the very first flashback sequence with Nero gives way too much away.

Still, it's better than 4 so far. Nero is not an angsty teen in this one, and is actually adulting better than Dante ever has. He's also getting laid.

I like the disposable arm system, and the grappling feature is something they took from the Ninja Theory DMC game. They took the best elements of that game and applied it to Nero's gameplay segments. It seems like they outright took the Ninja Theory Dante, slapped the douche out of him and gave him pubes, and called him Nero. It weirdly works.

I also like that with the soundtrack DLC, you can change the battle music for any of the characters to be any of the battle tracks from any of the previous games. This is especially nice for Dante, because his battle track in this game sucks.

It's also nice for the other characters as the tracks can get repetitive. The only drawback is that you have to do it from the main menu and can't do it with the in game options.

Anyway, return to form and all that. Not sure where I'd rank it in the overall series just yet, but so far it's one of the better games in the series.
 

Antimatter

Well-Known Member
Anything else I'm playing will be tossed aside and put on the backburner the moment this releases.

Iga knows what he's doing according to everything I've seen and has handled the crowdfunding development beautifully. I'd have no issues at all with funding another project he's involved with just based on how well he handled this project.

The Curse of the Moon prequel was pretty great as well. Even if the game is just acceptable, the total package of what I've gotten has made it worth the investment.

I'm actually due to get some swag for this at some point because I'm an early backer.
I backed it for $100. The latest trailer looked fantastic, graphics got a major overhaul it seems. I loved the demos as well, and cannot wait to see how the final product ended up.
 
Still playing DMC 5.

Only on Mission 8 currently, not even halfway through yet.

There are a lot more F-bombs in this game than in any other DMC game. Not a bad thing, just something I noticed. The language was relatively clean in most of the other ones as I recall. Something else the series picked up from the Ninja Theory entry.

Couple of ass shots too. If you're on PC just turn off lens flare in the options to uncensor the scenes. Dunno if this is an option or not on consoles. Still tamer than some of the stuff that was in the original cut of the Ninja Theory DMC.

I just recently noticed you don't get red orbs for breaking stuff anymore. Usually in a DMC game I'll run around smashing every destructible object I can. I haven't been doing that because I noticed you don't get anything for it. It just sort of dawned on me that this is the first DMC game where you don't get them for breaking random stuff.

There are also a lot more nodes that dump a bunch to balance that out. Also seems to be more health nodes and DT nodes as well.

If anything, not having to run around breaking every trash can and box in the environment has actually made the game feel a little less grindy.

Also, the bosses seem to be getting easier as I go. The toughest boss so far was the Goliath boss. He actually managed to knock a fair amount of my heath bar off while I was learning his patterns. None of the others managed to hit me more than twice.

I actually have more trouble with some of the regular enemy types.

Again, I'm not even halfway through the game, so I'm guessing there will be tougher fights. Boss difficulty does seem to be somewhat inconsistent though. A couple have been callbacks to previous games. A few regular enemies are like that as well.

V is okay. I like his character more than I like his gameplay. It's not awful, or difficult, it just doesn't feel right for a DMC game. In a separate title I'd probably like the mechanics more, but he seems slower paced and more strategic than I'm used to in a game like this.

The familiars can be a pain to direct at what you want them to attack at times, and they don't seem to rush very well. They seem more suited to fighting groups of small enemies as a lot of their attacks are AoE to some extent. The cat misses attacks a lot. They are also easily confused by fast moving or teleporting enemies and getting them turned around and focused again can take longer than it should.

I also kind of wish V's movement mechanics weren't tied to them. Especially dodging.

Those gripes are more minor than I'm making them sound. They are still effective enough, just clunkier than direct attacks. His missions aren't a wall or hindrance, but I do kind of just get through them without worrying about ranks. I'd use a gold orb if I died as V, and I haven't yet.

With Nero, and Dante, I'll restart a level entirely if I die to retain my rank score. I haven't yet, but if I do that's always what I do in DMC games.
 
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Karnath

Well-Known Member
Trails of Cold Steel 2 for the PS4 will be arriving soon so I'm gonna platinum Cold Steel 1. Plus can I just add that I have no idea how I missed these games the first time they came out.
 
Trails of Cold Steel 2 for the PS4 will be arriving soon so I'm gonna platinum Cold Steel 1. Plus can I just add that I have no idea how I missed these games the first time they came out.
I'd guess because they were handheld releases that took a while to get ports to anything else and weren't marketed nearly as much as they should have been. The PSP did okay, especially in Japan, but the Vita didn't sell all that well anywhere.

Check out Trails in the Sky 1-3 if you haven't. Same universe, different characters, and just as much JRPG goodness. The Trails of Cold Steel takes place in a different country starting about three months after the end of Trails in the Sky 3.

Erebonia gets mentioned a lot in the Trails in the Sky games, and one of the major characters is from there.

I'm still a bit salty they never released the Crossbell series in the west.

Trails of Cold Steel III is supposed to be out in the west sometime later this year. With the fourth entry probably not releasing in the west until 2020. All of the Trails games have gotten their western releases two years after the Japanese release, and the final entry, Trails of Cold Steel IV, came out last year in Japan.

Fair warning, don't expect anything to be wrapped up until the fourth game. The series likes to leave you hanging and the games aren't stand alone and are episodic.
 
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Finished Devil May Cry 5.

Story was meh. Game was great though. Nothing surprised me, they tipped their hand about certain plot elements way too soon I thought. I figured out who V was and some stuff about the main boss I won't spoil here pretty much as soon as he spoke.

That's okay, because I don't play DMC for the compelling story anyway. It was pretty obvious they were trying to foreshadow without giving it away though, and just sucked at it.

I'll get into SoS mode later. You have to finish it at least once to unlock some stuff, but I'm done with it for a bit now that I've played through the story once. I've got some other things to play before I get into a replay, finishing Rage 2, plus Far Cry New Dawn, Resident Evil 2, both Yakuza Kiwami games, and Just Cause 4. Not necessarily in that order.
 
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Karnath

Well-Known Member
I'd guess because they were handheld releases that took a while to get ports to anything else and weren't marketed nearly as much as they should have been. The PSP did okay, especially in Japan, but the Vita didn't sell all that well anywhere.

Check out Trails in the Sky 1-3 if you haven't. Same universe, different characters, and just as much JRPG goodness. The Trails of Cold Steel takes place in a different country starting about three months after the end of Trails in the Sky 3.

Erebonia gets mentioned a lot in the Trails in the Sky games, and one of the major characters is from there.

I'm still a bit salty they never released the Crossbell series in the west.

Trails of Cold Steel III is supposed to be out in the west sometime later this year. With the fourth entry probably not releasing in the west until 2020. All of the Trails games have gotten their western releases two years after the Japanese release, and the final entry, Trails of Cold Steel IV, came out last year in Japan.

Fair warning, don't expect anything to be wrapped up until the fourth game. The series likes to leave you hanging and the games aren't stand alone and are episodic.
Oh I have a Vita that's one of the reasons I can't believe I missed them, they really need to work on their advertising. Yeah I've been thinking about getting Trails in the Sky for awhile now, for some strange reason they never released the third one on Vita outside of Japan, hmm first one is only 2.3 gig and GOG has it on sale for 13.39, I'll have to check on my data this month and decide. Yeah admittedly I've already preordered Cold Steel 3, the current date for it is November 1st, that could change at any time though.
 

Karnath

Well-Known Member
Whelp that makes that my 2nd Platinum. Man C was a pain in the ass on Nightmare. So now I can put Trails of Cold Steel away, and start playing Trails 2 when it arrives Thursday.
 

chronodekar

Obsessively signs his posts
Staff member
I got an old Nintendo DSi. Spent the last week trying to figure out how to mod it. Have installed HiyaCFW and Twilight ++. Am having fun with this old handheld.

-chronodekar
 
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