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Finally approaching the endgame in RDR 2. A few thoughts so far.

It's far and away the best told story that Rockstar have done. Pacing issues aside, the writing has been top notch and the characters much more three dimensional than usual. Heck, they even make Bill Williamson seem like he has some redeeming qualities.

I'm finding the game's final portion to be hard going on an emotional level. No spoilers, but I'm sure some people will know what I'm talking about.

Best game horsies ever.

If Rockstar had patched the character movement and turn speed in the same way that CDPR did in Witcher 3, I'd be shouting this game's praises from the rooftops. It does so many things fantastically well, better that I've ever seen in many areas, but it can be a real drag to actually play at times.

The online is useless.

So far: 7/10

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Just saw an advert for Stellaris on console. Never heard of it until now. Anyone place this on PC?

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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

About 12 hours or so according to Steam. Honestly can't remember too much about it other than it being a sci-fi grand strategy game from the Crusader Kings people.



I think the only strategy games I actually like are CK2, Civ and XCOM.

EDIT - I am now downloading Stellaris again.

Yea it's one of the paradox studio set, Stellaris, Europa Universalis 4, Hearts of Iron 4 ( I'm currently hooked).

Really great games to get into, the next step up if you've enjoyed Civ/total war games.

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Have you played Crusader Kings 2? My favourite Paradox game by a long way. Possibly my favourite strategy game, full stop.

The last RTS I played was Starcraft II. Are they still called RTS? Scratch that. The one I most recently played was Dune: The Battle for Arakkis on my Genesis EMU a few months ago! Ah I can still here that anxiety-inducing chirpy music....

I've tried. Got frustrated with it after repeatedly trying Wlliam the Conqueror only to lose everything when he dies, didn't really understand how to stop rebellions. CK2 aswell seemed like a bit too much internal management as opposed to conquering.

Have you tried HOI4?

Stellaris isn't really an RTS, think of it more like Civilization without the turn-basedness.

@gandalf26 - Small tip for CK2: Start in Ireland. It's an island which means it's hard to invade, plus it's large enough for you to have a decent sized power base once you're controlling the entire country. Then you'll be murdering your son and heir because he's stupid and your second born (who can then claim the throne after you're gone) is a scheming dilettante like his old man.

The ways you can be despicable are what sets CK2 apart from any other strategy game I've played.

I've just now watched that Giant Bomb Stellaris video I posted, and it looks like the game's been adapted really well for consoles. It's an earlier version than what's on PC right now but I expect that'll change in the future and there's talk of mod support in at least the Xbox version down the line. The way mods are implemented on the Xbox Bethesda games is pretty impressive, so here's hoping that Paradox can do the same.

I actually bought Civ 6 on Switch (I've got 50+ hours in the PC version) purely to see how a PC strategy titan would translate to a console, and a comparatively low powered handheld one at that. Apart from load times being a lot longer and the graphics not having the same crispness, it works surprisingly well and is the entire game, not some castrated console-only version like Civ Revolution was.

Civ Rev was an enjoyable game though.

Been ages since I played and HOI4 just released a dlc that I'm getting to grips with.

I may be taking on too much at once, but I have a laptop that's supposed to ship on the 15-18th. I just ordered a TCL television to act as a monitor. Mostly I plan to use it for work and music, figuring I'd keep gaming restricted to the PS4. Now I'm thinking maybe some games might work better on the PC though. =\ I'd still love to get into VR, but whether or not that's console or PC it's just a few expenses too many at this point.

I saw that Stellaris was released to console, so that may be great then. I'm curious how such a game will pace without keyboard shortcuts. Seems a mouse and KB combo would all but be a requirement, at least in how I perceive the game style. Whatever. I have enough on my hands now trying to make time for The Long Dark and the coming RDR2 obsession once I have the TV in hand. I have a feeling I may not be around much after that. =x

Nah, M and K is basically irrelevant, will just be a touch more cumbersome moving the cursor around.

Man I'm glad you put me on to CK2 Tatty, even though I never did settle into a groove with it. It's left me hankering for that NPC system in a more AAA setting.

Like I'd love to see a Beth style open world that populated its background tribes and groups with personalities powered by those characteristics. So like maybe one time one leader's in charge, but on your return it's her daughter, and maybe you benefit by unpicking how it happened, and what she's like.

I don't mean trying to run a narrative via that changing landscape - that'd be impossible. But having it as the backdrop to that world could be immense. (Sodding tricky to do, with dialogue & actions the preferable way to communicate their characteristics etc. But fricking cool if you got it working )

And hell, with slightly more fingers on the scales, maybe it could work within sections of a narrative setting. Like with your character trying to run a fiefdom of some sort...

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

DMC 5 getting strong positive reviews! Very glad to hear. Will be picking it up in say 3 months once the busy period is over. I've watched a couple video reviews and looks amazeballs.

Yeah, with the direction that Bethesda and Bioware seem to be going, a game like that will only come from a smaller studio with much more limited resources. Talking of such, it might be finally time for me to pull the trigger on Pillars of Eternity 2.

I loved what I played of the first game apart from the realtime + pause combat, which I've never gotten along with stretching back as far as Baldur's Gate. Apparently they've added a turn based mode now.

I've played through XCOM 2 on PS4 and would heartily recommend it, so long as you go for the War of the Chosen expansion as well. The base game pales compared to what they've added.

Yeah it's a shame. I was kinda hoping middle-tier AA games might be getting a foothold in some ways, building smaller games with more experimental cores, but the production gloss of off-the-shelf engines etc, or the luxury of dedicated EA fan bases to sustain them.

(Ultimately it seems the most interesting stuff is almost always done in engines built for the purpose though. So the bigs guns are never going to risk that whole adventure, and the little guys don't have the time/budget to spin up fancier trappings :/)

Could 'Games as a Service' allow mid-tier guys to slowly eke their way to full gloss? Not in my lifetime I'm thinking.... (And I'm mainly thinking of games currently trying it )

But you never know. NMS has been an interesting example, even if the gameplay isn't revolutionary ultimately. (And I still cross my fingers periodically for FDev to attempt that proc gen voicing of text-NPCs they floated, primarily because it would be hilarious )

Got my backer rewards for backing the Myst 25th Anniversary Kickstarter. Too cool for words! A Myst linking book (with playable video and the ability to load our own videos on the book), all seven game DVDs, and Gehn's inkwell and pen in heavy brass. So fun!

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Linda's Author Website
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Also, a short video of what happens when you open the linking book:

That book rocks!

Aus - what is your favorite Myst game of all time?

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