rymantex

[rymantex]

My Most Anticipated Games of 2017 (so far)

A little later than intended, but as promised, here are my most anticipated games of 2017, at least so far :

Anticipating Nier Automata is a little strange since I’ve never played the prior game, but after trying the PS4 demo this is looking really solid, the music from what I’ve heard so far sounds incredible,  Now we just need to know when the PC version is coming out, come on Square Enix!

Another video game kickstarter I’ve backed but we’ve yet to see if it turns out well. I backed this as I miss the glory days of the 3D platformer & Banjo Kazooie remains one of my favourites.  So when a bunch of former Rareware peeps get together & announce they’re attempting to bring that style of game back I couldn’t back it fast enough, the Toybox demo showed promise, the controls feel good & the writing is on point, we’re supposed to see Yooka Laylee release in April.

Well Nintendo, your Switch presentation as a whole may have been somewhat underwhelming but man, that new trailer for the Breath of the Wild did it’s job, I very much want to play this game!  The world seems huge from the footage we’ve seen but will we actually want to explore it all?  We’ll find out when it releases on Wii U & Switch March 3rd.

I hope they announce a PC version of this plz gaiz I NEED TO DEFEND THE EARTH!

RANGER FINALLY GETS A SODDING SPRINT!

I took a chance a backed the kickstarter for the first Freedom Planet & I ended up loving the game enough to beat it multiple times.  Fast paced, Sonic-esque platforming but tweaked & enhanced for the modern age, challenging & intense boss fights inspired by game developer Treasure’s efforts & a catchy energetic soundtrack were all reasons why I liked the first game so much.

Developer GalaxyTrail have released gameplay videos showing some brief glimpses at how the 3 main characters, Lilac, Carol & Milla, have improved since the first game (with Milla IMO getting the biggest buffs).  A playable demo is due at the end January but the full game’s release is still unknown.

I’m not looking forward to buying a Switch for this, but goddamn a new 3D Mario game in the same vein as 64 or Sunshine is something I’ve wanted for a long time.  The Galaxy games were very good as was 3D World, tho I didn’t care for the timed nature of 3D World much & the Galaxy games levels felt a little too small & streamlined for the most part.

Odyssey looks gorgeous & the new hat throwing mechanic looks interesting, Super Mario Odyssey launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch ‘Holiday’ 2017.

You might wonder why there’s a picture of a tweet here?

Well Hideaki Itsuno has worked as the director for a few key Capcom games I’ve really enjoyed, namely Devil May Cry 3 & 4 as well as Dragon’s Dogma.

So when he says he’ll be announcing a new game this year, I pay attention.

Personally I will be very surprised if this ends up NOT being DMC5.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Yakuza 0, Shovel Knight : Specter of Torment, Outcast : Second Contact (a remake of an obscure 1999 PC game that no-one saw coming)

Seeing as the year 2017 has only just begun, I imagine new, unannounced games could expand this list, but that’s all for now so, until next time folks!  ^_^

[rymantex]

My Favourite Games of 2016

A bit late with this but I wanted to share my thoughts on my favourite games of 2016 once things had settled down a bit, so here we go!  Presented below in no particular order :

Let’s get the big obvious one out of the way, DOOM 2016’s single player campaign was surprisingly great.

I say surprisingly because based on pre-launch footage, the Multiplayer beta & iD software’s reputation at that point in time (largely thanks to the well-made but boring RAGE), no-one was expecting too much from this game.  So for it to come along and be basically the best single player FPS campaign in years is saying a lot.  We expected the Glory Kills to interrupt the flow of combat, they didn’t, we expected them to interrupt the flow with a heavy handed story that didn’t need to be there, instead we got this strangely funny, self aware tale where the Doomguy gives as much a shit about what’s happening as you do, couple that with incredible visuals running at a silky smooth 60 FPS even on consoles & gunplay that feels fantastic & you had one of the overall best games of 2016, at least in terms of single player, I didn’t really bother with multiplayer or Snapmap.

I didn’t expect to like Stardew Valley.  I didn’t expect it to steal a month of my free time away as I worked tirelessly to improve my farm, explore deeper in the mines, got to know the various townspeople with all their charming eccentricities.  If you’re in need of a cheap, cheerful, happy game with low stakes, perhaps consider the farming lifestyle of Stardew Valley.

If DOOM 2016 was my single player FPS of the year then Overwatch definitely takes multiplayer FPS of the year for me.

It’s surprising how little it took too.  The appeal can basically be boiled down to really tighly designed FPS gameplay where teamwork is necessary to succeed combined with very nicely varied characters with colourful, varied personalities & appearances.  I definitely see myself playing more of this with my friends in 2017.

For the record my favourite heroes so far are Genji, Pharah, Reaper, Zarya, Winston, Lucio & Zenyatta.

Another great FPS what’s going on?

Yes to my surprise Titanfall 2 lived up to the rather lofty expectations the internet at large had set for it.  The single player campaign is actually really good.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is a linear, set-piece driven game from a lot of people who used to make Call of Duty, but it is a REALLY GOOD one of those.

It’s surprising how much a boost to your mobility & speed can liven up one of these kinds of games, there were speedy platforming challenges in Titanfall 2 that were ACTUALLY FUN, there were boss fights that were ACTUALLY FUN and (small spoiler here) there was a time travel gimmick in one level that was ACTUALLY FUN!

I really hope Respawn Entertainment sticks around to make more games coz Titanfall 2 was fantastic, I do think DOOM 2016 was just a bit better in terms of single player but Titanfall 2 was incredibly solid regardless & when I played the multiplayer during a free weekend that was pretty cool too!

TO SAVE OUR MOTHER EARTH FROM ANY ALIEN ATTACK!

FROM VICIOUS GIANT INSECTS WHO HAVE ONCE AGAIN COME BACK!

WE’LL UNLEASH ALL OUR FORCES WE WON’T CUT THEM ANY SLACK!

THE EDF DEEEEPLOYYYYYYYS!

Disclaimer - I backed this game on kickstarter.

I’m glad I backed it too, because it turned out better than I expected.

It’s hard not to go into a crowdfunded game without some trepidation these days thanks to some high profile failures, so thank god Shantae Half Genie Hero turned out pretty great, the worst thing I could say about it is that it doesn’t really fix many problems the Shantae series has always had but, it’s still a solid 2D platformer with incredible cuteness, funny writing & more energetic Jake Kaufman music.  As long as this series continues to offer these things I will continue buying it.

So in 2016 I finally found an MMORPG I liked enough to stick with for the long haul, I like the way the combat works, I like how pretty the world is (tho I hate how it makes me want to make expensive PC upgrades), I even unexpectedly grew to like some of the Life Skills.

However it has to be said, I don’t think I would’ve stuck with it were I not lucky enough to become part of the Cwown guild, whose members have been a MASSIVE help in getting acclimated to the inner workings of Black Desert Online, we’ve had some great experiences together (personally I’d say the mad rush to get Witch Awakening was a highlight) & I look forward to growing my characters more & further adventures (or maybe misadventures) with the guild as new content is added.

The summer of 2016 ended up being my time to conquer the Dark Souls trilogy.  I had a TON of help (especially from my co-op buddy Suuslas, thanks man ^_^) but that feeling once you finally crack Dark Souls is so goddamn satisfying.

Dark Souls 3 actually came out in 2016 so it gets on this list, I liked the speedier combat in this game compared to the others, I liked how much easier it was to co-op with friends in DS3, I enjoyed the callbacks to Dark Souls 1, all in all, Dark Souls 3 is just a pretty good game, the fact that it was only “pretty good” might explain why it was overshadowed in most Game of the Year lists………...BUT NOT MY LIST!

Let’s finish this list with Naughty Dog’s send off for Nathan Drake, this game would’ve earned a spot on this list if it only included the Madagascar chapter & nothing else, that’s how good that chapter is compared to the rest of the game.

Not that the rest of the game is bad by any stretch, infact I kinda liked that game let me stealth my way through more encounters than I expected, the banter between the characters is as enjoyable as ever & the hook mechanic added a lot to the game when it actually let you use it freeform in battles (which sadly was never often enough).

This might be a slightly controversial opinion, but I think Uncharted 4 might be my new favourite of the whole series.

Wow, so I really liked 9 games this year, my lists are usually shorter than that!

I may do a follow up post where I talk about games of 2017 I’m looking forward to, but until then folks, ta-ta for now!  ^_^

[rymantex]

I’ve got to use my head… And think

by Cyangmou

[rymantex]

dark souls pixel gifs

[rymantex]

My Ornstein the Dragonslayer costume is 100% finished! :)

https://m.facebook.com/sonicboomcosplay/

[rymantex]

About to stream PS4 for the first time, bring big guns & pesticide!

EDIT - Over for now, hoping to stream more EDF 4.1 later!

[rymantex]

Send me your Super Mario Maker Courses!

I finally booted up Super Mario Maker for the first time today, I’d like to do a stream of courses sent in by viewers, so go ahead, send courses my way!

(Note - I reserve the right to skip intentionally bullshit courses)

[rymantex]

Somerville

System: TBA

Status: In Development

Release: TBA

Developer: Chris Olsen

Website: somervillegame.com / somervillegame.tumblr.com / forums.tigsource.com

Description: “SOMERVILLE at it’s core is an episodic cinematic platformer with responsive shooter mechanics. It draws influence from my beloved days of grinning through Eric Chahi’s Another World but dragged through a nice contemporary wash. Expect a core mechanic that borrows a little bit of Treasure shooter, a smidge of rhythm action, bookended by a fleshed out adventure game experience.”

[rymantex]

About to resume Dragon’s Dogma!  Continuing the 2nd run of Bitterblack Isle

[rymantex]

i’m glad this dumb glitch is still in dragon’s dogma

[rymantex]

More Dragon’s Dogma coming up!

*All done for today, hope those who stopped by enjoyed it ^_^*

[rymantex]

About to head to Bitterblack Isle in Dragon’s Dogma, come join the fun!  (or just to see how often I die in this difficult dungeon)

[rymantex]

Dragon’s Dogma - Main Questline

Whilst I work on a more thorough guide I figured I would at least post the names of all the Main Story Quests in Dragon’s Dogma so that new players at least know what to look for in their potentially crowded quest log.  Once you know the names you can find them in your quest log and select it as active to get those all important quest markers.

Also don’t worry, these are only the names of the Main Story quests, spoilers have been kept to an absolute minimum.

I’ll separate it into the various stages of progression :

Stage 1 - The Beginning & Road to Gran Soren

Upon A Pawn

Call of the Arisen

A Rude Awakening

Off with it’s Head

Stage 2 - Arriving in Gran Soren & the Wyrm Hunt

A Matter of Myrmidons

Lure of the Abyss

The Wyrm Hunt Quests

Complete any 2 of the following 4 quests to allow progress to Stage 3. Talk to Ser Maximilian outside the castle gate whilst having the Wyrm Hunt License in your inventory.

The dialogue option on the left becomes > this name in your quest log

Decipher a text > The Cypher

Rout an Infestation > A Fortress Beseiged

Investigate a cult > Seeking Salvation

Aid a research team > The Watergod’s Altar

After you complete the second quest the option ‘Hear the Duke’s Directive’ becomes available from Ser Maximilian, choosing this option proceeds to stage 3 & cancels the Wyrm Hunt quests you haven’t done.

Stage 3 - Orders from Chamberlain Aldous

Griffin’s Bane

Trials & Tribulations

Stage 4 - More Orders from Chamberlain Aldous

The Wyrmking’s Ring

Pride Before A Fall

Stage 5 - Yet More Orders from Chamberlain Aldous

Honor & Treachery (automatically started after completing both Stage 4 Quests)

Reward & Responsibility

Stage 6 - Endgame

Deny Salvation

The Final Battle

Seasoned Dragon’s Dogma veterans might notice some missing quests here, those were intentionally left out ^_^

So yes, those are (most of) the Main Story Quests of Dragon’s Dogma, everything else is a Side Quest or Notice Board Quest.

Check for those quests in your quest log and set them as active to get quest markers telling you where to go, also if you’re a bit lost, don’t forget you can also check previously completed quests in the quest log, so if you’re wondering what quest is next, check which one of these names is near the top of your ‘Completed Quests’ list, that will be the last Main Story quest you did, so you know which one to look for next!

I hope this proves useful whilst I work on something more substantial, ttfn everyone!

[rymantex]

Dragon’s Dogma - Beginner’s Tips!

Since quite a few people will be trying out Dragon's Dogma for the first time with the recent PC port of Dark Arisen I thought it might be a good idea to share some beginner's tips with everyone as it can be a bit rough starting out, so here's my tips for starting out with Dragon's Dogma!

1 - Pick up everything, deposit most of it in Item Storage for later use

In Dragon's Dogma, there's a lot of items to pick up, a lot of it seems like junk too, but you'd be surprised at some of the uses these items can have, it may not be immediately useful but you might be able to rely on it later.

Item storage is available from any Inn in the game, it works similar to the Item boxes from old school Resident Evil games, the same storage is accessible from many places.

PC users in particular should check the contents of their Item storage, there's lots of free stuff in there that used to be DLC in the console version, however some of it can give you a little too much of an advantage when starting out, if you want the true 'Dragon's Dogma experience' you may wish to ignore some of these free goodies, definitely get the 'Eternal Ferrystone' though!

The next point sort of continues on from this one....

2 - Don't know what an item does?  Read it's description!

Every item in the game has a description that tells you something useful about it, though that may not be immediately obvious, you see every item actually has 2 pages of description & you only see the first page by default, to see the second page you must press X (on an Xbox 360 controller) to see the second page of an item description, the second page will directly tell you if it restores health or stamina, if it's combinable, if it cures a Status Ailment (known as 'Debilitations' in Dragon's Dogma) & even if the item decays over time (with the descriptor 'Time Sensitive').

3 - There are hidden treasure chests EVERYWHERE

Seriously, some of the nooks & crannies the devs chose to hide treasure chests in might surprise you, be thorough in your search for loot!

4 - You can explore almost anywhere from the start, but doing so may be dangerous

If you run into enemies who can nearly one shot you & are barely taking any damage from you & your Pawns attacks, you may wish to leave that section of the map until later when you've levelled up a bit & acquired better gear.

5 - Experiment with the different character classes/Vocations!  Augments can be used with any class/Vocation!

Upon starting Dragon's Dogma, you'll be asked to pick which class you want to start with, Fighter, Strider & Mage, pay attention to their weapon loadout & pick whatever sounds most fun to play to you, but be warned you'll be stuck with this class until you reach the big city called Gran Soren.

Upon reaching Gran Soren, the man at the Inn called Asalam can change your class (called Vocation in Dragon's Dogma) for you, once you've paid the necessary amount of discipline points to unlock a Vocation, you can switch to that Vocation for free whenever you want, you only spend points the first time.

Every Vocation in the game have these things called Augments.  These are basically passive buffs, some of them are extremely useful & the super neat thing about them is that once you've unlocked them, Augments can be used with any Vocation!  For this reason it is advised to spend at least some time with all the Vocations in the game, for both you & your pawn.

6 - Caxton, the weaponsmith in Gran Soren, can upgrade existing weapons & armour in addition to selling you new ones

This is the guy with the beard & moustache who goes "They're Masterworks all!  You can't go wrong!" when you talk to him, select the 'Enhance' dialgoue option & you'll be taken to the upgrade menu, initial upgrades only cost money, but level 2 & 3 upgrades will require materials in addition to yet more money.  In the end it's up to you to check the stats & see whether it's better to buy completely new weapons & armour or upgrade existing ones.  The right-most tab in the upgrade menu will let you upgrade weapons & armour sitting in your Item Storage.

Speaking of Item Storage, you do NOT need upgrade materials in your inventory to upgrade anything, you can use upgrade materials straight from Item Storage.

7 - Main Story Quests can automatically fail Side Quests if you progress too far

One annoying problem with Dragon's Dogma is that it does little to organise Quests in your quest log, Notice Board Quests look different, but Main Story Quests & Side Quests look exactly the same in the quest log, if you end up automatically failing a quest like this & the game saves, you may not be able to go back & do that quest without either starting the game over from scratch or waiting until New Game Plus to try again.

If an NPC has a quest for you they will have a green question mark above their head, but this icon has a short draw distance so it's easy to miss.

Here's an early example, there's a side quest you can get early on called 'Lost and Found'  This quest will fail out if you speak to Barnaby in the Pawn Guild in Gran Soren.  

You can still go to Gran Soren before doing this side quest, just don't speak to Barnaby until it's completed.

8 - Your Pawn learns from your actions, sometimes to it's detriment

You can issue basic commands to your Pawns using the D-Pad, however this can influence the Pawn's AI & lead to it learning undesirable traits.

For example, if you stop fighting to pick up items in the middle of an ongoing battle for any reason, your pawn will pick up on this & start picking up items when they should be engaging the enemy, also abusing the 'Come!' (Down D-Pad) & 'Help!' (Left/Right D-Pad) commands can give your pawn the 'Guardian' inclination over time.

The 'Guardian' inclination sounds good on paper, your Pawn prioritizes protecting you above all else, in practice though, the Pawn will stick to you like glue & only attack the enemy when they get very close or attack you outright, it's unfortunate that it's very easy to accidentally give your pawn this inclination.

"But wait"  I hear you ask, "What are these 'inclinations' you're talking about?  I'm glad you asked!

9 -  A primer on Pawn Inclinations

On the Status page, switch to your pawn & scroll down to the 'Profile' page, at the bottom you'll see a section labelled 'Primary' & 'Secondary'

These are your Pawn's inclinations, they somewhat dictate how a Pawn's AI will act in combat, here's a breakdown of what they all mean.

Scather - Rushes into battle & immediately engages the strongest enemy in a group Challenger - Prioritizes the elimination of ranged & magic enemies first Mitigator - Focuses on killing the weakest enemies in groups first Guardian - The Pawn prioritizes the Arisen's safety above all else, sticking to them like glue & barely attacking (some suggest that if both you & the pawn are melee classes then this inclination can work well)

Nexus - Same as Guardian, but for other Pawns instead of the Arisen

Medicant - Pawn focuses on restoring health & curing debilitations (status ailments) for itself & the party, good if you want a dedicated healer Utilitarian - Encourages a pawn to use it's support abilities more often Acquisitor - Pawns will focus on gathering loot, even breaking off mid-battle to do so Pioneer - Pawns will walk further ahead of you, potentially engaging in fights earlier than you may want to

There are lots of guides online about pawn inclination should you wish to know more, but for now I'll just say this, more experienced Dragon's Dogma players will tend to avoid hiring pawns with Guardian & Nexus inclinations.

Following on from this, more pawn advice.....

10 - Pawns higher than your level cost 'Rift Crystals' to hire, but Pawns from people on your friends list are always free regardless of level!

If they don't mind, you could add someone you know has a good pawn to your friend's list ^_^

However be wary when hiring higher level pawns..........

11 - If you hire pawns of a higher level than your Arisen, you will earn less experience from kills

This XP penalty can be as much as 25%, hiring higher level pawns can also make game easier than it's supposed to be, choose wisely before hiring higher level pawns.

An advanced tactic is to hire lower level pawns or just not hire pawns at all, this gives you bonus experience but obviously is not recommended for a first time playthrough.

Besides, hiring pawns is part of the fun!  ^_^

12 - Carrying too much?  Use your pawns as pack mules!

Pawns have inventory space too, make use of it!  Giving them healing items if you have any to spare can also keep them alive, they will use them automatically when their health gets too low.

Also don't worry about giving items to pawns hired from other players, any items they were carrying will automatically be desposited into your Item Storage when you dismiss them.

However DO worry about equipping weapons & armour on hired pawns, you can do this but the game treats it as a gift to that pawn's creator so you'll lose that equipment when you dismiss them.  For this reason people tend to seek out pawns that already have decent equipment.

13 - Nighttime is dangerous & very dark, always bring a Lantern!

Enemy compositions can change at nighttime & be a bit tougher but in general the biggest enemy at night is the realistically low visibility, make sure to always bring a Lantern & some flasks of oil to refill it should you be exploring at night or in dark areas.

14 - Don't go to Bitterblack Isle too early

You might see a blue marker on your minimap, if you go to the marked destination at nighttime (the pier in the starting town of Cassardis) you'll meet a lady called Olra, talking to her gives you the option to go to Bitterblack Isle, this an endgame dungeon with incredibly difficult enemies & the best gear waiting within, if you go there right at the start there is a 400% chance you will get rekt.  Further on in Bitterblack Isle the story developments assume you've beaten the main game already so there's potential spoilers in that sense as well.

If you end up going there by accident, talk to Olra again & she should give you the option to return to the main game.

Right!  I think that's everything I wanted to cover, I hope you enjoy your time in the world of Gransys, stay tuned for more streams from the Babble Gang & until next time folks, ta-ta for now!

[rymantex]

Aww. 🐱🐐🐍

http://little-asya.deviantart.com