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So during the river raids you can complete a location by looting the chest but not get anything from the chest? Or maybe get a ration? lol this is terrible
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Dec 10, 2021 03:32
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Beat Unity in 2 days. Will never touch again. Good lord was that bad. It honestly felt like country-wide character assassination in how it depicted the Revolution. All but gobs off the monarchy. Boo, hiss, the revolting working classes. Who the gently caress were any of the characters? There are 32 missions and I couldnt tell you a drat about anyone in them. Arno and Elise are half-wits and theres some guy who sounds like Blackbeard who kept saying pisspot. Rogue had Shay, Achilles, Liam, Hope, Kesegowase, Chevalier, Gist, Haytham, Adewale, and some weepy guy called George by comparison. No white room for the deathbed scenes. Trash combat, trash stealth. The locked chests are the worst collectible in the series
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Dec 10, 2021 03:53
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Feels like we've been stuck in a holding pattern since Skyrim waiting for that next big technical leap with open world NPCs.
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Dec 10, 2021 05:22
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I'm sure I'm wrong and I'm just not thinking hard enough for examples or I don't play the games that show it off but it feels like video game AI in general hasn't really advanced at all in the past 10 years.
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Dec 10, 2021 06:24
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Amarcarts posted:Feels like we've been stuck in a holding pattern since Skyrim waiting for that next big technical leap with open world NPCs. Definitely a ton of technical hurdles, but a lot of it comes down to design - there's just too many contradictions. We want smart NPCs, but for almost any game to work the NPCs also have to be real dumb It's especially pronounced for stealth games, which just straight up wouldn't work with "competent" NPCs. Stealth protagonists *need* NPCs to be predictable, irrational automatons or else nothing they do would ever succeed. Probably a big reason the MGS series was so beloved (and so missed) is that they really leaned into that
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Dec 10, 2021 06:44
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WarpDogs posted:Definitely a ton of technical hurdles, but a lot of it comes down to design - there's just too many contradictions. We want smart NPCs, but for almost any game to work the NPCs also have to be real dumb The contradiction is really visible in Skyrim itself and in dumb complaints of the fans of older games. Objective arrows are dumb! Immortal NPCs are for babies! Oh fine, turn that thing off with a console and go looking for some NPC who is smart enough to have a schedule and travel the land. And maybe that NPC can meet some bandits and fight them and die (this can happen in Skyrim even now, but only for NPCs that don't give major quests). Imagine what further "dumbing down" you'd have to do to make a game with even smarter characters mannageable.
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Dec 10, 2021 08:12
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I'm finally enjoying Valhalla again and all it took was using cheat engine to alleviate the insanity of the grind. I can go find gear and upgrade it and give it a whirl immediately without letting it just sit in my inventory for hours and hours until I bring it up to snuff with my other gear. Jesus man, I didn't think this type of poo poo would ever get to me but it did. I'm most likely done with this franchise after Valhalla but it was a decent run, I'm just not at all enthused about whatever the gently caress AC Infinity is going to be, nevermind that Ubi is a seriously pants on head company these days. Deakul fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Dec 10, 2021 |
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Dec 10, 2021 16:11
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Yeah, I get it when people say that Odyssey loot system was bad, but the only thing Valhalla does better for me is allow me ignore loot and just upgrade my father's axe till the end of the day. Which Odyssey also allowed to do but since it wasn't the only way to play people probably feel choice fatique.
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Dec 10, 2021 17:17
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I prefer the Odyssey loot, mostly because they made the transmog cost in game money for some reason in Valhalla. And I just break down the extra weapons for ship parts, sell the extra armor for drachmae. But mostly it's the transmog.
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Dec 10, 2021 18:31
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i like the odyssey loot cause its got cool pauldrons with a dudes face on them and also just a lot of nice simple leather and metal armors, which look battleworn and appropriate for a wandering mercenary valhalla armors are all really garish and just kind of overdone looking once you upgrade them fully, many of them look more ceremonial than something anyone would wear into battle and they also tend to have more clipping issues
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Dec 10, 2021 19:16
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Clipping issues is a general problem for a setting. Everyone is a hairy bearded fur wearing badass.
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Dec 10, 2021 19:47
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I'm gonna still give it to Valhalla because j enjoy the cozy winter armors, but also I can't believe with all the transmog stuff they added to Odyssey they never implemented a 'keep your helmet on in conversation' toggle. Why have an eyepatch and any number of cool spartan helmets that you'll only ever see from 30 feet away and behind you?
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Dec 10, 2021 20:17
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Unity felt like it was written by a time-displaced monarchist who really loving hated the figureheads of the revolution. Was that the worst case of historical character-assassination in the series?
Inspector Gesicht fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Dec 10, 2021 |
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Dec 10, 2021 20:18
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Inspector Gesicht posted:a time-displaced monarchist there are still irl monarchists today in france. i worked for one once (not on anything directly monarchy related, tho i was helping build a castle so.. sort of). not sure how many there are (the one i knew is dead now) or what kind of influence they have on ubisoft (likely none) but monarchism in france certainly didnt end with the revolution
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Dec 10, 2021 20:32
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Inspector Gesicht posted:Unity felt like it was written by a time-displaced monarchist who really loving hated the figureheads of the revolution. Was that the worst case of historical character-assassination in the series? I don't know about specific characters but Liberation definitely did a little bit of 'both sides are at fault' in segregated Louisiana which wasn't great, but it's such a short game it's all surface level without going hard in either direction
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Dec 10, 2021 20:37
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Wolfsheim posted:I'm gonna still give it to Valhalla because j enjoy the cozy winter armors, but also I can't believe with all the transmog stuff they added to Odyssey they never implemented a 'keep your helmet on in conversation' toggle. Why have an eyepatch and any number of cool spartan helmets that you'll only ever see from 30 feet away and behind you? I was actually really impressed with one cutscene in Valhalla where Eivor was shown taking her helmet off because the situation dictated it (she was eating, drinking and then making out with a dude). I didn't bother to check because I usually have helmets turns off, but I suspect they've specifically animated that into other cutscenes for people who have them turned on.
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Dec 10, 2021 20:43
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bike tory posted:I was actually really impressed with one cutscene in Valhalla where Eivor was shown taking her helmet off because the situation dictated it (she was eating, drinking and then making out with a dude). I didn't bother to check because I usually have helmets turns off, but I suspect they've specifically animated that into other cutscenes for people who have them turned on. There were also cutscenes where Eivor would put down an axe. While not carrying one to begin with.
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Dec 10, 2021 21:24
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Unity went out of its way to whitewash the Revolution and tankies are still mad lol.
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Dec 10, 2021 21:25
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Wolfsheim posted:I'm gonna still give it to Valhalla because j enjoy the cozy winter armors, but also I can't believe with all the transmog stuff they added to Odyssey they never implemented a 'keep your helmet on in conversation' toggle. Why have an eyepatch and any number of cool spartan helmets that you'll only ever see from 30 feet away and behind you? And they already had it in Origins! And it was great and everyone loved it. But of course, this is the company that decided you couldn't have a shield in the hoplite game or a sword in the viking game... E) The only things I remember from Unity was there were some baller robes, and the little detective missions were cool.
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Dec 10, 2021 23:18
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There's an understated funny moment in 3 where Haytham excuses the actions of his fellow templars that Connor has assassinated. Johnson was only owning the land to keep it safe. Pitcairn wanted diplomacy until Connor messed it up. As for Hickey, Haytham can't think of anything so he drops the subject and moves to his next point.
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Dec 11, 2021 01:47
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BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:There were also cutscenes where Eivor would put down an axe. While not carrying one to begin with. doesn't she always have that little hand axe on her? The one that she gets out when she does the confirm kill animation
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Dec 11, 2021 03:13
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Yeah it's the same axe when you use the axe throw skill.
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Dec 11, 2021 03:21
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Inspector Gesicht posted:Unity felt like it was written by a time-displaced monarchist who really loving hated the figureheads of the revolution. Was that the worst case of historical character-assassination in the series? The co-op missions feel like they had a different writing team because they are are more pro-revolution than the main story. The most incoherent and hypcrotical bit is where you investigate the death of Marat. He was murdered for being too extreme and you have his killer arrested, despite that being exactly what Arno does for large chunks of the game.
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Dec 11, 2021 04:37
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I love that stupid little axe. Eivor's running around with Gae Bolg constantly emitting lightning from her back and she just pulls out this dinky little thing when important stuff is happening, it's amazing.
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Dec 11, 2021 06:15
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Isn't it Varin's Axe? She would probably keep that one on her at all times.
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Dec 11, 2021 21:37
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ilitarist posted:The contradiction is really visible in Skyrim itself and in dumb complaints of the fans of older games. Objective arrows are dumb! Immortal NPCs are for babies! Oh fine, turn that thing off with a console and go looking for some NPC who is smart enough to have a schedule and travel the land. And maybe that NPC can meet some bandits and fight them and die (this can happen in Skyrim even now, but only for NPCs that don't give major quests). Imagine what further "dumbing down" you'd have to do to make a game with even smarter characters mannageable. i mean, that's kinda misrepresenting the complaints. "objective arrows are dumb" in Bethesda games because the level and environmental design has significantly degraded to the point that quests are practically impossible to finish if you don't use them, whereas the older games usually relied on in game clues, like maps or getting directions from other in-game characters. "Immortal NPCs are for babies" isn't about NPC's being killed on the road by bandits, its for the numerous characters in the game that the player just can't kill because a quest stage relies on them, whereas older games would either design the quests to not need them, or allow for the quest to continue even if the character died. that's not really "dumbing down" the game or making a dumb complaint
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Dec 12, 2021 08:25
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drkeiscool posted:i mean, that's kinda misrepresenting the complaints. "objective arrows are dumb" in Bethesda games because the level and environmental design has significantly degraded to the point that quests are practically impossible to finish if you don't use them, whereas the older games usually relied on in game clues, like maps or getting directions from other in-game characters. It's the opposite. The level and environment design have progressed so much you need some artificial guiding tools to help players. If you've been on the Internet when Morrowind was released but before video streaming has become ubiquitous you'd see that the most common question about Morrowind was where to find Dwemer Puzzle Box. Cave of Nerevar was asked a lot too. This is because even in primitive low poly environment of Morrowind it became very hard to look for stuff as long as it's not in the center of the room on a pedestal. In Skyrim or Fallout even that night not help because liberal use of physics might move the item. With modern density of detail looking for something is a nightmare. Most open world games (like Witcher or modern AC games) chose to make the world as primitive as possible. Those games don't have interactable objects beyond some clutter that disappears when you look away. Everything important is either in a chest or on a body, and in that case it glitters or is highlighted. Just in case almost every game like this has a special vision mode that highlights everything interactable. Skyrim or Fallout 4 quest design is much more daring in that regard, you often look for an item that is an organic part of the environment. Same with NPCs: they need that crutch because their games sare basically the only story-focused game with NPCs having so much freedom. Even Fallout New Vegas based on Bethesda engine had to reach its goal of allowing everybody to die by removing almost all NPC autonomity and living world ambition In short, the point is that Bethesda is one of the few developers who try to fulfill the promise of world simulation instead of dumbing it down and it's bizarre how they don't get recognition for it. Most likely boring writing makes people want to look for some *objective* flaws.
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Dec 12, 2021 09:45
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ilitarist posted:In short, the point is that Bethesda is one of the few developers who try to fulfill the promise of world simulation instead of dumbing it down and it's bizarre how they don't get recognition for it. Most likely boring writing makes people want to look for some *objective* flaws. This is one of those things that frustrates me because Bethesda RPGs are wholly unlike anything else in that regard and it's like no, I know they have serious design issues/boring NPCs/etc, but give me some alternatives! Probably the one reason I'm considering getting a Series X, to play Skyrim in space
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Dec 12, 2021 18:07
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It's really hard to have a conversation about it. The writing is poor and most of the quest design is unimaginative, so when you start talking about it in a positive light people assume you're shilling for a mainstream game for casuals. But those well written good games like Witcher 3 or whatever else you like could have been made back in 1999, jist not as pretty. No one else tries to do huge world with immersive sim level of detail and RPG freedom of approach. At the same time people talk about Skyrim as if everybody is copying it.
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Dec 12, 2021 18:31
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ilitarist posted:It's really hard to have a conversation about it. The writing is poor and most of the quest design is unimaginative, so when you start talking about it in a positive light people assume you're shilling for a mainstream game for casuals. i mean, this partly sounds like a problem of who you are talking to skyrim is a hugely popular game. so popular they are able to keep releasing it over and over and people still buy the new versions. there are lots of people who openly love skyrim and other bethesda games - including their many flaws - without worrying about that sort of thing. even here on the sa forums full of bitter gamer types there is a nice friendly elder scrolls thread where you can have this conversation to your hearts content like if you are talking to the type of people who literally complain about "casuals" then its probably going to be a lovely conversation regardless of topic also, how could skyrim possibly be any more or less "mainstream" than the ac series or the witcher that its being compared with? both of those are also huge mainstream series' - in fact i'd say they are both more mainstream than any elder scrolls game since they have movies and tv shows Earwicker fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Dec 12, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2021 18:37
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ilitarist posted:It's the opposite. The level and environment design have progressed so much you need some artificial guiding tools to help players. Well, that's definitely a novel take on the idea. People usually condemn games for adding artificial tools and UI elements that compensate for the developer's inorganic and unimmersive design, instead of praising it. You must feel the AC games have also improved in the same way then, seeing how heavily they've shifted in the same way in regards to design.
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Dec 13, 2021 10:11
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No. As I've said, other games - like AC - reinforce simplistic design. If you look at UI of those and plenty of other similar open world games you will see they clutter the UI much more than Bethesda games. Almost all of them have a separate vision mode that removes all the graphical complexity and highlights everything you really need to know. This highlight is especially telling and shows you that all of those games are less ambitious than early 1990's RPGs, they're just bigger and prettier. Any given dungeon (and by the way, big combat/exploration areas is another thing no one copies from Bethesda games, almost all of those other open world games have almost nothing outside of open air areas) in Bethesda gamess has hundreds of interactable items. Turn on Witcher vision in a middle of a big beautiful city and you'll see that it has as many interactions as a middle of the forest, there are probably few crates and a merchant if you're lucky. I like jokes about Skyrim remaster and resells. They're funny and are not malicious usually. A lot can be said about Bethesda writing. But when people talk about how the engine is bad or those games are primitive it devolves into self-contradictory arguments.
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Dec 13, 2021 10:37
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Oops, the Epic Store revealed the new expansion early. WE GOING TO THE NINE REALMS BOIZ quote:Assassin's Creed® Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök
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Dec 13, 2021 16:51
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>the most ambitious expansion in franchise history Does Fate of Atlantis count as a single expansion? Cause if they make 3 maps as beautiful as those were then I don't care what else they add, I'm buying it.
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Dec 13, 2021 16:57
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Honestly? Sounds pretty rad. They really should start focusing on the mythological stuff more. Get fantastical with everything. I wonder if this will take place post-game or something. Given the price point, this has to be the size of a full game, right? Like a Brotherhood to 2 type of deal.
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Dec 13, 2021 17:06
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I just hope that the new map/maps aren't as annoying to traverse as the entirety of Fate of Atlantis was, christ, I never hated an expansion as much as that one. The maps were pretty, sure, but good lord that was the point that made me put the franchise down for over a year to even come back and beat the expansion.
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Dec 13, 2021 17:17
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Ragnarok is that talking squirrel you met in the dream world so I don't know how they'll make a whole expansion out of that.
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Dec 13, 2021 17:43
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Jimbot posted:Honestly? Sounds pretty rad. They really should start focusing on the mythological stuff more. Please no. Asgard and Jotunheim weren't great. Personally I found the Atlantis DLC really dragged, too; I definitely play AC for the historical setting, not for the gameplay.
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Dec 13, 2021 17:48
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yeah i mean asgard had some pretty architecture but the rest of the experience was awful, both the gameplay and the story/dialogue were really tedious and i couldnt wait to get out of there ive never bout any dlc in this series tho so clearly im not the audience if they added a multiplayer dlc that worked like watch dogs 2 i'd buy the poo poo out of that tho (btw in case anyone is wondering, the wd2 multiplayer scene is still quite active). it'd be super easy to work into the plot/worldbuilding too, just say the invading player is an order member Earwicker fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Dec 13, 2021 |
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Dec 13, 2021 18:02
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| # ? May 24, 2024 20:52 |
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That sounds like a complete yawnfest. The odysey/valhalla crossover sounds a bit more promising, taking a leaf from the franchise glory days (3/Liberation and Unity/Rogue)
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Dec 13, 2021 18:20
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